A TEENAGER has been arrested and two stolen motorcycles seized after a covert operation by undercover officers.

The 14-year-old suspected thief was arrested by the Operation Benelli team in Newcastle on Monday evening.

Officers from the team had been responding to a report of a theft of a white Yamaha MT07 scooter in Arthur’s Hill earlier that day.

In a bid to trace the vehicle plain clothed officers were deployed to areas where some of their main targets were known to gather.

The team staked out the area for hours, long after their shift had ended, in the hope to locate the bike.

Their patience eventually paid off when they spotted a teenager discarding the vehicle into bushes on the New Mills estate in Arthur’s Hill

Officers leaped into action and the 14-year-old teenager was arrested at the scene.

The scooter was seized by officers along with a second bike, a white Triumph motorcycle, that had also been discarded in the bushes after being stolen on October 1.

Detective Constable Carlo Charlton said: “If you see youngsters riding on motorcycles with no helmet, or with two or three passengers, then get in touch as your call could be vital.”