New police bikes to tackle crime

Four new off-road motorbikes will help police deal with nuisance bikers

Four new off-road motorbikes have been bought by Nottinghamshire Police to deal with nuisance bikers.

Funding was provided by a county council grant of £20,000 for two bikes in the south Nottinghamshire area and two in the Bassetlaw and Newark area.

At least six officers have been trained from each division to use the machines.

The aim of the initiative is to ensure the teams are always ready to respond to reports about motorcycle nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

This will enable officers to respond more quickly to incidents in their local areas.

We know mini-motos can be a problem because of anti-social behaviour by a small number of owners Vernon Coaker, Home Office Minister and MP for Gedling

Insp Mark Towlson, from Nottinghamshire Police, said the problem of nuisance bikers becomes more prevalent with longer daylight hours.

"The misuse of mini-motos and off-road bikes impacts upon the quality of the lives of whole communities as well as being a real danger to innocent persons and the riders themselves," he said.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker, MP for Gedling, said: "We know mini-motos can be a problem because of anti-social behaviour by a small number of owners."

He felt the bikes were "a good thing as it will enable police to go after these people - who are an irresponsible minority".

Councillor Glynn Gilfoyle, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Partnerships, said: "We believe this cash will help the police make more arrests and issue more warning notices to those who are causing a nuisance or anti-social behaviour with mini motors or other bikes."

The teams will be evaluated on the number of incidents reported, the number of warning notices issued, the number of arrests made and the number of illegal motorbikes and mini motos seized.