YOUNGSTERS who allegedly played “chicken” in front of busy A12 traffic have been lambasted by the police.

Essex Police says its control room received “several” 999 calls reporting four young boys running across the A12 at Boreham on Wednesday evening.

The force stated it deployed officers to search for the group but they were unable to find them, despite an extensive search.

A spokesman said: “We allocated a number of officers to locate the group, but initial reports were the group were playing ‘chicken’.

“This is not only incredibly dangerous to the males running across the road but puts the lives of innocent motorists at risk too.

“If you know who these males are please let us know on 101 quoting incident 884-15/06.”