Six Off Road Bikes Seized in Stockton by Officers and Partner Agencies

In the last 24 hours Stockton Neighbourhood Officers have conducted a proactive operation with partner agencies to tackle the illegal use of off road bikes.

The operation titled Operation Kickstart targeted the areas of Norton, Tilery and Portrack in conjunction with Stockton Borough Council and Thirteen Group.

Three scooters, two trial bikes and a quad bike were seized in total as well as a quantity of class B drugs.

The bikes were being used antisocially and causing damage to local playing fields.

Stockton Neighbourhood Sergeant Gary Cookland said: “This operation was led by intelligence gathered from local residents and thanks to our partnership approach, the operation has been a success.

“We hope this operation sends out a strong message to the community that the mindless and reckless behaviour of individuals using off road bikes illegally will not be tolerated.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the public for coming forward with information, we do listen and we will work together to take action to make our communities safer to live in”.

Councillor Steve Nelson, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Access, Communities and Community Safety, added: “I’m really pleased to see that these bikes have been seized because they are an absolute menace and we know how fed up people are of them and the damage they cause.

“We’ve worked closely with Cleveland Police and Thirteen Group to take bikes off the road in this area and we will continue to target those who use bikes to cause damage and nuisance across the whole Borough.

“We are sending out a very strong message that those responsible for this kind of reckless behaviour are not above the law. I would encourage people to report the culprits to the police so they can be targeted and dealt with.” 

A spokesperson for Thirteen, said: “Behaviour like this is distressing, disappointing and blights communities.

“We continue to work closely with Cleveland Police and Stockton Borough Council on this and I hope that this close-knit community can enjoy its open spaces safely in future.”

Enquiries are underway in a bid to trace those responsible for the seized off road bikes. Anyone with information regarding off road bikes, offenders or the location of where illegal off road bikes may be being stored can call Cleveland Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.