A POLICE and crime commissioner has pledged to investigate a new approach to tackling the illegal riding of off-road motorbikes in Darlington after being told he was “missing a trick” being used elsewhere in the Tees Valley.

Durham commissioner Ron Hogg said he would look into whether a one-strike policy could be adopted to tackling offenders after being told Durham police had a less effective approach than was being used in Cleveland, despite the forces sharing the same traffic unit.

Earlier this year police in Darlington reported a decrease in illegal motorcycling following a rise in residents reporting incidents, but Councillor Anne-Marie Currie told a Darlington Borough Council meeting Mr Hogg was attending that many people continued to be “terrorised” by the nuisance.

She said residents in the Campion Road area felt unable to let their children outside due to the number of motorcycles riding near riverside, adding: “It does have a sign saying no horses, but it doesn’t actually say no bikes”.

Councillor Nick Wallis told Mr Hogg the installation of ‘no motorbikes’ signs could help cut numbers of illegally-ridden motorbikes and quads “blighting our communities, parks, nature reserves and footpaths”.

He said despite a huge amount of ongoing work by the council and other agencies to tackle the issue, residents had been left distressed and angry.

The council leisure and environment boss said it had emerged Durham police had to issue a section 59 notice to first-time offenders, and only if they are caught a second time within a year can their motorbikes be seized and crushed. 

However, he said in Cleveland as well as other areas, ‘no motorbikes’ signs had the power of a section 59 notice, meaning police could immediately seize and crush motorbikes seen in prohibited areas, even if they are only identified later.

Cllr Wallis said: “This leaves us in the strange position where the motorcycle section which operates across Cleveland and Durham has two different approaches to the same menace.”

He told the meeting he had raised the issue with police officers in the motorcycle squad who said it would be “extremely helpful”  if the Durham force could adopt the same approach as Cleveland does.

Mr Hogg replied he would be very happy to look into the matter and that it was “a real mystery” given that the illegal riding was being tackled by the same motorcycle section, adding that Durham force officers also worked in Cleveland.

After the meeting, Mr Hogg said he had been unaware of the different approaches in Durham and Cleveland and that tackling illegal motorbike riding was one of the force’s highest priorities.

He said: “Off-road motorcycles are causing a real nuisance, a real concern in our communities and whatever we can do to reduce this blight on our society we will, you can be sure of that.

“At the heart of this is is engagement with community. Members of the public do know where these bikes come from and where they stay overnight and I would like that information fed into the police service.”