Neighbours have described how mini-motorbikes are making their lives hell.

Hundreds of youngsters have bought the 2ft-high bikes, which can reach speeds of more than 30mph.

Police are receiving dozens of complaints a day from people across Sussex who are fed up with the sound of revving engines day and night.

Legally, mini-bike riders must follow traffic regulations if their vehicles are used on public roads but the bikes are routinely being driven along pavements and bridleways.

Residents are demanding action to reclaim their streets and make their neighbourhoods safe from the threat of mini-bikes.

Police, who have launched a crackdown to tackle the problem, are warning riders they will enforce the rules of the road.

Officers have the power to seize bikes being driven off-road if they suspect they are being used to cause harassment, alarm or distress. They say the mini-bikes are not toys and people not riding the bikes safely and within the law are risking their lives and others.

And it is not just youngsters who are at risk.

In October last year, plasterer Ian Thompson, 25, was killed when he was thrown off a mini-bike and hit by a taxi.

Mr Thompson's death, understood to be the first fatality on a mini-bike in Sussex, sparked calls for tougher measures to curb illegal riding.

In Crawley, it is the single biggest youth problem for police, who receive up to 20 calls a day relating to mini-bike offences.

Officers have launched a crackdown on antisocial riders and illegally-ridden bikes in the three hotspot areas of Bewbush/Ifield West, Pound Hill and Furnace Green.

Resident Sybil Homeyard, 77, of Berrymead Walk in Ifield West, said she had been woken at 4am on Wednesday morning to the sound of revving engines.

She said: "We back on to the path where they come down and congregate and the sound is terrible. They woke me up going up and down and I'm concerned about them being out that late."

Neighbour Kathleen Prentice, in her 50s, said: "You can get times when it's all day every day. It's dangerous."

Mother-of-three Lorraine Lawrence, 29, said: "If you've got the back door open and they're going past it's quite frightening. The kids can't go out because I don't know if they're going to get knocked down."

Inspector Mark Piper, of Sussex Police, said the force had launched Operation Ordeal to deal with the problem.

He said: "It's the main source of antisocial behaviour and the public has been driven mad.

"We know it's been getting worse over the years and it's always worse in the summer holidays. They've been ridden on pavements and residents havehad to jump out of the way because they think they've got right of way.

"It's not just antisocial but leads to all sorts of crime like stealing bikes and siphoning fuel from others."

On Wednesday, plain-clothed police officers and police community support officers swept the Bewbush/Ifield West boundary and made seven arrests.

Four youths were found with stolen mopeds, two were caught riding antisocially and another youth had his bike seized for multiple offences.

Officers carried out similar operations in Furnace Green and Pound Hill yesterday and are planning a couple of raids every month while the problem continues.

Insp Piper believes many of the mini-bikes are bought at car boot sales by parents who think they are children's toys. He said they were illegal to drive except in private fields.

He said: "Parents are being ripped off. They need to be up to road standards to be driven and have all the usual tax, insurance and driving licence. They can go fast and must be looked at as potentially lethal."

Neighbour Jan Curwood, 54, of Weaver Close, said youngsters did not seem to care if they upset people.

She said: "They don't give a damn, it's very annoying.

"I run round the back but they're gone by the time I get there, over the bridge into Bewbush. They're like a bee buzzing and they even go up on the road occasionally."

John Gibson, 64, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said: "I think it's quite dangerous if there's little ones out there by the back gate."

There are problems in other areas of Sussex too.

Volunteer project worker Gary Reyes, 47, is trying to set up a track on the outskirts of Eastbourne to encourage children to ride legally in a safe environment but has been unable to find a plot of land to rent.

He said: "It's terrible around Eastbourne. The latest thing is for the riders to use nitrous oxide kits they buy off the internet, which can make the bikes go an extra ten or 15mph, up to 70 or 80mph.

"People are riding them on the Shinewater estate and on the seafront every day. They're so unstable on the road it's only a matter of time before there's another death.

"The bikes are being sold for as little as £60 or £70 now and the manufacturers are dealing death. They're so short, car drivers can't see them coming up behind or alongside."

In Worthing, Insp Gavin Whitehouse, of the Safer Worthing team, said since a crackdown on riders earlier this summer, the number of people complaining about mini-bikes had dropped off.

The team is using a mini-bike confiscated from a rider to demonstrate the safe and legal use of the vehicles.

He said: "We still have sporadic reports but they're few and far between."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is calling on local authorities to provide safe off-road sites for mini-bikes as well as tighter legal controls to prevent crashes and more responsible selling.