Shocking moment covidiot Audi driver 'speeds' through leafy suburb while laughing pals egg him on - as police pledge to crack down on motorists abusing UK's clear roads

This is the shocking moment an Audi-driving yob tears through a leafy suburb at speeds of up to 70mph in broad daylight.

The cocky thug turned the near-abandoned roads into his own personal racetrack, while laughing pals egged him on and filmed the wild ride in Bromley, south east London.

Motorists blasted their horns in outrage as the young man weaved between traffic at break-neck speed and narrowly avoided hitting two unsuspecting cyclists from behind during the one-minute rampage.  

The footage emerged as Britain's biggest police force, the Metropolitan police, promised to crackdown on speeding motorists who are abusing the clearer roads during the coronavirus lockdown.

It's set up a special task force to tackle speeding motorists in the capital.  

Video of the Bromley joyride was leaked on social media on Saturday and viewed more than 85,000 times.

It shows the driver - wearing sunglasses and gloves - accelerating recklessly through deserted residential streets before cornering without looking.

He floors it up a long straight road, then takes a bend too fast and veers across the divide.

He aggressively overtakes a car then darts between two cyclists and a passing vehicle - missing them by inches, prompting dissent from other motorists.

The grinning driver then turns towards the camera and boasts about the move, shouting: 'RS, mate.'

A man in the passenger seat cheers as the driver revs the engine and they go full circle on a roundabout before speeding back the way they came.

Viewers on social media were appalled.

Louise Macdonald wrote: 'Some poor person could have been crossing the road. They wouldn't stand a chance if they hit them.'

Nikki Hanson commented: 'There are people like myself and my colleagues out and about at all times looking after those who have this virus and are in their own homes. He could take away the vital support these people need as they are dying. Inconsiderate selfish pig.'

The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.  

Road safety chiefs claim average speeds on some roads have increased by as much as 50 per cent during lockdown.

One driver was even caught travelling at 151mph on the M1 in London. 

Det Supt Andy Cox, who is heading the unit, told the Daily Telegraph that speeding was on the rise due to a combination of 'extreme speeders' and other drivers thinking they could get away with going faster on emptier roads. 

He said: 'In some roads where we have checks, the average speed has increased by more than 50 per cent and one 20mph road is averaging 40mph. 

'When we stop the drivers, they say it is the clear roads and that they didn't expect us to be there because they thought we would be engaged with coronavirus-related issues. 

'Such behaviour is totally unacceptable and increases the chances of a serious collision.'

Det Supt Cox has posted a series of videos on his Twitter feed showing speeding drivers during lockdown 

In one, a driver led police officers on a 151mph car chase near the M1.

In the footage, police chase the driver for more than a minute, before he comes to a stop, gets out of his vehicle, a SEAT Leon, and flees on foot.    

In another a driver can be seen travelling at up to 123mph on a road in north London.        

Figures, from the Met Police and reported in the Daily Telegraph, show the maximum speed recorded in a 20mph zone was 73mph, while one driver was caught speeding at 151mph on the M1 before getting out of the car and fleeing on foot.

Data released earlier this month that London has higher traffic levels than other major European capitals - indicating that motorists are still making unnecessary journeys despite the lockdown.

The analysis, conducted by the Financial Times, using figures Netherlands-based traffic data firm TomTom, found that 20 per cent of London's roads were congested on average between Monday to Friday in the last week of March, against the usual figure of 40 per cent.  

Separately, the Road Safety Analysis group has found traffic on A roads in South East England fell by 56 per cent by the end of March compared with a week earlier.

But it also discovered that average speeds have gone up by at least 10 per cent over the last two weeks on March, amid concerns drivers are breaking restrictions on empty roads.