A man who would drive around neighbourhoods shouting “wakey wakey” in the early hours has been caught, police have said.

A 21-year-old has been handed a warning after disturbing sleeping residents near Portsmouth over the past week.

A Hampshire Police force said they had received “many complaints of a male causing nuisance” while driving around the Brockhurst and Elson areas of Gosport in a red Nissan Navara. 

“The 21-year-old driver and his passengers were heard shouting 'wakey wakey' at the top of their voices, as well as many other unnecessary things,” police said. 

This happened in the early hours of various mornings, according to Gosport Police.

As well as “generally annoying residents who were trying to sleep”, the force said the driver was spotted turning his lights off and shouting: “You can’t call the police because you can’t see us." 

“How wrong he was," Gosport Police added.

Alongside their statement posted on Facebook, the force shared a comment which claimed someone was driving down a road at 2am shouting “wakey wakey” through a megaphone.

The 21-year-old from Fareham has been issued a section 59 warning under the Police Reform Act of 2002.

The move means that if the Fareham man attempts such behaviour again in the next 12 months his car will be seized, even if he is driving a vehicle other than the red Navara.

Police added any member of the public witnessing poor conduct behind the wheel from the 21-year-old should phone them and quote incident number 44200439605 "so we can remove his vehicle from him".

Additional reporting by Press Association