Edinburgh crime: 'Pets killed' as quality of life 'destroyed' by illegally-modified cars and bikes in Queensferry

He claimed pets had been killed and hotels were losing trade because of the situation and he called for a national task force to be set up to tackle the problem.

Mr Cole-Hamilton, who is MSP for Edinburgh Western, which includes South Queensferry, raised the issue at First Minister's Questions, saying he had attended a meeting with concerned residents to discuss what could be done.

He told the parliament: "Residents in South Queensferry are having their quality of life destroyed by hundreds of high performance, illegally modified cars and motorbikes racing around their beautiful town.

"The drivers of these vehicles will abuse and intimidate anyone wh approaches them where they gather in the car park at the foot of the iconic Forth Bridge.  Pets have been killed, hotels have lost trade, nobody is getting any sleep.

"Residents like pensioner Andy Scott are really worried about road safety - in fact, just as our meeting was concluding, there was a collision right outside our venue, with a motorcyclist rushed to hospital. Police are appealing for information about that."

He said racing and anti-social behaviour was also happening in Inverness, parts of Glasgow, Crail and many other areas.

And he asked: "Will the First Minister meet with me and agree to establish a national task force to examine what more can be done to address this criminal behaviour that is blighting so many lives?"

Replying, First Minister John Swinney said he was sorry to hear of the situation in South Queensferry. "It is a beautiful part of our country, an iconic location and I'm sorry members of the public are experiencing what they're experiencing."

He said the Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop had briefed the Cabinet about her concerns about road fatalities which he described as a "very serious and current problem" and assured parliament the issue was "very much on the Cabinet' agenda.

He continued: "I'm very happy to have discussions with Mr Cole-Hamilton on this subject and to determine what further action can be taken.   There may be some legislative issues that may be worth considering. I fear some of those will not be within our areas of responsibility but I'm happy to explore all possibilities."