A PARISH council is to hold a public meeting in the hope of finding a solution to problems caused by bikers in a rural town.

Residents and business owners in Hawes, in Wensleydale, claim the town’s Market Place is overrun with bikers and their machines on sunny days, who park inconsiderately and can be hostile to locals.

Concerns have also been raised about the aggressive riding styles of some bikers on the country lanes, which lead to serious accidents every summer.

Coun John Blackie, chairman of Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council, said the public meeting will be a chance to come up with a solution to some of the problems.

He said: "I think we have reached a crisis point now and we do need to address the issues. As ever there have been some examples of dangerous and predatory riding on the roads in the Upper Dales already this spring.

"Hawes attracts more than the usual number of bikers and there have been times that the town has been completely overrun with motorcycles.

"There are lots of points of view but we need to come together and form one stance that we can work from to resolve the issues."

Representatives from North Yorkshire Police will attend the meeting, including Inspector Dave Brown, from the county-wide roads policing group and Inspector Mick Barron, of the local roads policing group.

Coun Blackie also hopes that senior members of groups that represent bikers will also attend to add to the debate.

The meeting will be held in the Gayle Institute, in Gayle, near Hawes, at 7.15pm on Monday.