RESIDENTS held hostage by hoons are fighting back, tracking down their tormentors and delivering a public shaming.

Frustrated by the police response, homeowners in an Edmonton street have told how they contacted the parents of a hoon by recording his car’s registration number.

They demanded he face the residents and apologise for his wild driving and burn-outs. "The boy was dragged down to us and was dealt with in front of his parents by some really angry residents," MacKellar Close resident Craig Mann-Jones said.

"The kid said ‘you would have done it when you were young’ and I said ‘yes, but we did it in a cane paddock or in the middle of the bush and not swipe the sides of cars’.

"It’s a nice street but as soon as the sun goes down, you can hear them tear up the road and some day someone’s going to be killed."

In a special report in The Weekend Post, residents across Cairns described how they were left sleepless and frightened by the late-night antics of hoons who police say are difficult to catch.

Tramway maintenance worker Sid Shepherd lives at nearby Ravizza Drive and said hoons had crashed into his fence and yard seven times in the past five years.

"One time, we had just had it fixed and within an hour, it was knocked out again," Mr Shepherd said.

Police recently launched Operation Brighton to catch and confiscate the vehicles of the main offenders.

Traffic branch Sergeant Mark Buckman said police were doing all they could with their resources to combat the hoon problem.

"It's quite hard to catch them in the act," Sgt Buckman said.

"We understand people don't want to see black lines on their streets."

"Last Thursday night, we conducted stationary noise tests on cars with noisy exhausts and found six of the seven tested were too loud."

A Kewarra Beach resident under siege from hoons told The Cairns Post he has given up calling the police because they either did not respond or were unable to react quickly.

"I live on Kewarra St and all the young hoons follow the track down to the beach where they party, light fires and leave piles of cans," the man said.

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