15 off-road vehicles, machetes, balaclavas and drugs seized during police operation

Officers in Middlesbrough have seized 15 off-road vehicles during a plain clothed operation to tackle nuisance off-road bikes in the town.

On Monday evening (19th August), plain clothed officers from Middlesbrough Proactive Team spotted a large group of people wearing balaclavas and riding off-road vehicles along Riverside Road.

Officers followed the riders and quickly established where the bikes had come from and where they were being stored.

On Tuesday morning (20th August) the team made an early morning call to the containers and assisted by the Specialist Operations Team, forced entry to a number of containers. Inside were 12 motorbikes and three quad bikes, along with machetes, balaclavas and a quantity of class A drugs.

Whilst officers were still at the scene, a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy arrived at the containers in a vehicle. Officers made some further enquiries and found them to be linked to the containers.

Both males were arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and taken to police custody for questioning, then later bailed whilst pending further investigation.

Three of the motorbikes and one quad bike were identified as stolen, and will be returned to their owners.

Five of the bikes were identified as having been ridden illegally, with no insurance the previous day, and will now be destroyed.

Further enquiries are ongoing in relation to the remaining bikes.

Sergeant John Sproson, who leads Middlesbrough Proactive Team said: “Off road bikes are consistently raised as an important issue by our communities, they cause misery through their antisocial and criminal use.

“This operation shows that we will take every opportunity to take them off the street. We would like to ask the public to contact us and tell where they are being stored.”

Anyone with information on where nuisance off-road vehicles are stored can call 101 or can provide this information to the charity Crimestoppers anonymously.