It's one of the North West's most sought-after postcodes - but people living here say they are plagued by boy racers and supercars.
Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bugattis are a regular sight on the streets of Wilmslow - part of Cheshire's affluent Golden Triangle - and the jaw-dropping processions of expensive vehicles have turned the area into a hotspot for supercar spotters.
But while crowds of enthusiasts flock to see the flash motors, locals say they have had enough of "idiotic" drivers using the town's roads as a "racetrack".
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"People seem to travel from all over the North West to race their cars," said Debra Brown, whose home backs on to the A34 between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge - the nearby village home to millionaires, footballers and celebrities.
Homeowners living near to the busy bypass say nuisance drivers loudly rev their engines as they "whizz" around its roundabouts. In a bid to curb the problem, a noise-activated camera is set to be installed on the Whitehall Bridge roundabout, off Pendleton Way, before the end of the month.
The device is able to record sound above an "acceptable level", which police and council bosses say will help identify the vehicles responsible so they can take action against drivers.
"It's terrible," said Ms Brown. "It's the noise at night that is most annoying.
"We will be sitting in our lounge and you can hear the noise. We bought this house knowing how busy that road was so you have to accept that, but we were not prepared for the level of noise and the type of vehicles.
"You can see why they are attracted to it. It's a massive stretch of road with no traffic calming measures. You have teenagers standing on the roundabout. It's dangerous and they are putting their lives at risk."
Ms Brown's neighbour Michael Neal has similar concerns. The 81-year-old has lived in his home in Ashford Road for almost half a century but said the noise problem only began in recent years.
"It's like a race track every Saturday and Sunday," he explained. "Some weeks they come from all over the country. It's like a jamboree. They have the exhaust modified to make as much noise as possible.
"Drivers have lost control and there have been a couple of near misses on that roundabout. Some of the neighbours have even threatened to put their house up for sale because of the noise."
Mr Neal and other residents believe the problem is made worse by the crowds that regularly gather to "encourage" drivers. Some fans spend hours waiting to snap photos of their favourite high performance cars.
Mr Neal said he hoped the new scheme would make the roads safer but said he believed tough enforcement action was needed.
"It's brilliant," he said. "They have got to enforce them though. These are not kids doing this - they are wealthy businessmen in their 30s, 40s and 50s. It's a waste of time fining them.
"One thousand pound or five thousand, it's nothing to these people. They're multi-millionaires. Take the car off them and crush it in front of them."
Over the last decade, the stretch of the A34 between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge has seen several fatal crashes, which prompted calls for extra safety measures to be introduced on the dual carriageway.
Marc Cottey, whose home backs on to the Whitehall Bridge roundabout, said he feared a repeat and described the ongoing problem as an "accident waiting to happen".
"You can hear them racing each other and going sideways round the roundabout," he added. "You get these kids watching, spurring them on. It will not take much to go off the roundabout.
"It's a busy junction but you don't notice the normal day to day traffic, it's just these idiots on a weekend. You can hear that they are not doing the speed limit. If you're driving like that it should be on a racetrack, not a public road. Hopefully the cameras will make an impact on the noise levels."
Earlier this week, the government announced it would be trialling noise detecting traffic cameras in four areas over the next two months - Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol and Great Yarmouth.
London's Westminster Council is already using the devices to catch out motorists revving engines, using illegal exhausts and performing loud doughnut manoeuvres.
The noise-activated camera on the A34 is being funded by Cheshire East Council and Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer. Although initially launched on a trial basis, it is hoped that the scheme could eventually be made permanent.
"The issue will be whether the people doing this will realise it's only a temporary thing and go somewhere else," said one Wilmslow resident, who asked not to be named.
"It certainly would help because it's become more frequent and more noisy. Recently we had the worst episode. It went on for a long period and there seemed to be a significant number of cars doing it.
"It was in the evening and all we could hear was the rumbling of cars revving and whizzing up and down the bypass. It was like explosion after explosion. You get the feeling that the cars are modified to make as much noise as possible."
Speaking about the cameras, Coun Craig Browne, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, and deputy leader of the council, said: “This is excellent news both for residents and the safety of road users – and something this council fully supports. This pilot scheme is another good example of our successful partnership working, with the police and the police and crime commissioner, to resolve this issue of anti-social and often reckless and dangerous driving in the area.
“This proactive, collaborative approach will complement the planned installation of the 20mph zone and traffic calming measures in Alderley Edge, scheduled for the new year, to tackle the recognised nuisance and risks faced by local residents.
“For context, 1,342 residents responded to a community survey carried out by the council’s anti-social behaviour team back in the summer of 2020, which I understand was the highest response we had ever had to such a survey. These two projects are a big win for Cheshire East Council, the police and the local communities.”
John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said: "Making Cheshire’s roads safer is a priority in my police and crime plan, so I’m pleased to have been able to fund an acoustic camera along the A34 to try and tackle inconsiderate driving that is having an impact on local residents. I know how frustrating these issues are and it’s because of the strength of feeling at my public meeting last year that, together with the constabulary and council, we’ve kept this issue firmly on our agenda.
“The data we get from this trial will inform how we tackle this issue going forward. I am eager to see the difference this camera trial could make both now and in the future.”
Cheshire police Inspector Andy Baker added: “It’s great that we are getting this funding from the police and crime commissioner to try and tackle anti-social driving in the Wilmslow area. We have identified the hotspots of where car meets and anti-social behaviour driving is taking place and we aim to crack down on the offences in the area, for the safety of the drivers and other members of the public in the area.
“There can be serious consequences from car meets and anti-social driving, so if we can prevent it from happening, then my officers are doing their job to keep the people of Cheshire safe in Wilmslow.”
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