The Metropolitan police and Tower Hamlets council are working together to put the brakes on a planned “tunnel run” scheduled to take place in the East End on Saturday (November 17).

Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick last week voiced his fears that the meetings of motor enthusiasts who speed in late night convoys are putting lives at risk. The events have been compared to those in Hollywood’s The Fast and the Furious films.

Mr Fitzpatrick has now slammed Tower Hamlets council for failing to prevent a run set to take place at Westferry Circus in Canary Wharf on Saturday night, which is expected to attract more than 200 car enthusiasts.

He added that he received numerous complaints from residents with young families who had been kept awake until the early hours by motorists on previous runs.

“The council has a hear no evil, see no evil approach to the tunnel runs at the moment which means hands off until a serious accident happens”, he said.

“The events are anti-social and residents’ voices must be heard on this issue now and not later.”

However, Tower Hamlets council insisted it was taking a proactive approach to tackling the problem, adding that it had not received complaints regarding the safety of the events.

A spokesperson said: “In the past we have taken preventative action and we are currently working with the police to consider any options available regarding future events of this nature.

“This will include the potential for the police to exercise their highway powers and the council to assist them through injunctions and antisocial behaviour orders.”

Tunnel runs are organised meetings of hundreds of car enthusiasts which take place across London, with East End locations such as the Limehouse Link tunnel, Westferry Circus and the Blackwall Tunnel particularly popular.