A Tullamarine business owner recently locked himself inside his office with the lights off in fear of out-of-control late-night hoons outside his building.
He says he’s had enough of the gatherings that have been attracting up to 100 cars to Lillee Crescent.
Police believe two young people killed in a fiery crash on the EJ Whitten Bridge at Keilor East last Wednesday were part of Melbourne’s illegal racing scene.
Harley Churchill, 19, and Ivana Clonaridis, 18, were travelling at speeds of up to 160km/h when the blue Holden Commodore crashed through safety barriers.
Earlier that morning, police had disrupted a gathering of 100 drivers doing burnouts and wheelies at an industrial estate at Campbellfield, about 18 kilometres from the crash site.
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The owner of the business said the cars and crowd had been gathering outside his business on an almost nightly basis since December.
He was holed up in his office from 11pm on January 21 after a group of about 30 people and 15 cars showed up and were doing donuts and burnouts. He emailed a live commentary of the incident to police and councillors.
“I have locked myself inside my office and turned off all the lights,” he wrote.
“I am not prepared to leave while this group is present. I do not feel safe.”
He said he had been in regular contact with Fawkner police and Hume council about the issue since April last year.
“Since last year, we’ve achieved getting police to patrol this area more frequently and council comes out to clean up the mess every now and then.
“The road outside is blacker than any tarmac you’ve ever seen.
“There’s tyre debris everywhere. People litter my property, urinate on my building and once they even took out a tree on the nature strip.
“Sooner or later someone, be it a driver or spectator, is going to be hurt or killed on this street.”
Sunshine police’s Inspector Dave Byrt said hundreds of members of street racing groups such as the Northern Skids and Southern Skids were assembling in industrial locations at rapid speed.
“With modern technology, these groups can organise, gather then disperse and reappear in another location in a matter of minutes,” he said.
