Bikers from as far away as Scotland are travelling to Thamesmead so they can use its estates and walkways as race tracks, it is claimed - with hair-raising footage of their dangerous exploits being posted online.

The videos show riders swerving on to the wrong side of the road in front of buses, doing wheelies beside passing traffic on the dual carriageway and speeding along walkways and pavements.

But residents who have complained about the problem say the authorities seem powerless to do anything - and warn it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

Brian Barnett, 56, said: "What I'm most concerned about is one day there's going to be a fatality. Someone's going to be walking along, it might be an elderly person, a motorbike comes hurtling around the corner and knocks them flying."

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Mr Barnett, of Wolvercote Road, explained: "We get a lot of issues where they're hurtling around footpaths and that sort of thing, up and down the ramps.

"The police are obviously on to it but they can't chase them."

One online video by group UK Bike Life, shows riders, some with their faces covered by balaclavas , pulling off a host of dangerous stunts and bragging they have travelled to Thamesmead from Manchester. One tells the camera: "It's a movement innit, you know what I mean. If it ain't UK Bike Life, what is it cuz?"

Another, named Thamesmead Crossers, shows a group speeding down roads and even the centre of a dual carriageway.

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One concerned neighbour has kept a photo diary of incidents, including one in December where there were more than 20 dirt bikes racing up and down Wolvercote Road and Yarnton Way, with raucous pals cheering them on and filming the stunts from cars.

And Paul Damiral, 48, of Cherbury Close, said the problems are partly caused by bikers coming down to use the old Thamesview golf course as a racing track, before spilling out into the streets.

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Mr Damiral, who said he had met one rider who had come all the way down from Scotland to race, said: "They have had wild horses tied up on short ropes along the tracks where the motorbikes race. 

"The horses are obviously in the way so get chased, kicked, terrorised and, months ago, some were even shot with bb guns. The horses often break loose, terrified, causing problems." 

Police in Thamesmead have made tackling the problem a priority - having recently seized six bikes and made two arrests for stolen vehicles - but admit their powers are limited.

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In an online statement they said: "We have asked for residents to write letters or emails to summarise the issue. These are to be taken to meetings with partners. So far we've had zero replies.

"If you witness bikes causing anti-social behaviour we need your statement to seize the bike and send the rider to court."

Asked about the problem, Thamesmead management company Peabody said the golf course was under lease from Tilfen Land.

Tilfen Land’s director of real estate Terry Adams said: "We will continue to work with the leaseholder and our partners to try and resolve on-going issues of motorcycles in the area. 

"Meanwhile, we have made the police aware of reported aggressive behaviour towards the horses."