Off-road bikes still terrorising East Shields and Whitburn as calls made for parents to control their kids
Calls have been made for an off-road bike “amnesty” and for parents to play their part in helping to clampdown on nuisance motorcycle riders in parts of South Tyneside.
Councillors at the latest meeting of East Shields and Whitburn Community Area Forum (CAF) raised concerns around antisocial behaviour caused by off-road bikes in the area.
It comes after football pitches at The Dell, on Quarry Lane, in South Shields, were recently left unplayable following vandalism caused by off-road vehicles.
Northumbria Police chiefs said there had been 20 reports of motorcycle antisocial behaviour in the CAF region since the forum’s last meeting on January 2, down slightly from 23 in the same period last year.
The Marsden area saw the highest number of incidents, with eight, followed by Harton Moor with six, all of which were in Temple Park according to officers.
Force representatives stressed they continue to work to try and tackle the issue and will take action where they have evidence to do so.
Speaking at the meeting (on Thursday, February 6), councillor Michael Clare, Harton ward representative, stressed that parents have a role to play in preventing their children from committing such antisocial behaviour.
He said: “Particularly when it comes to mini mopeds and scrambling bikes, I think it is really up to the responsibility of the parents as well [as the authorities].
“Everyone will know whether or not their child has a vehicle, a motorcycle, and they should take some responsibility for the damage that is being caused.”
He also called for an “amnesty” to take place where such vehicles can be handed in to the police.
Cllr Clare added: “They are causing a tremendous amount of damage and inconvenience for the borough.”
Elsewhere Councillor Jim Foreman, Cleadon Park representative, stressed the importance of residents reporting any intelligence to help the authorities take action.
He said: “I think it’s really important that the public, if they see anything, they report, because that’s the only way we’re going to stop this sort of thing.”
Sergeant Lee Meadows, from Northumbria Police, outlined how the neighbourhood policing team continues to work with the forces’s dedicated motorcycle disorder group over such issues.
He added: “We also work alongside South Tyneside Council to try and identify where bikes are and then take action when we’ve got evidence to do that, the work is still going on in the background.”
Donald Wade, council anti social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and serious violence co-ordinator, noted there is an “ongoing investigation” in regards to the damage to the football pitches in Quarry Lane “covering a number of tactics.”
He added anyone who is a council tenant or a tenant of one of the “major registered social landlords in the area” is “breaching their tenancy agreement” if they are storing an off-road bike being used for antisocial behaviour in their home.
He continued: “If you report information to the police or to the council, if we can track what house it is coming from there’ll be a joint visit, that will be seized and there’ll be some sort of tenancy warning added to that individual’s tenancy.”
People can report incidents of nuisance motorbike riders and any intelligence to police at https://www.northumbria.police.uk/ as well as by calling 101.