Update: Efforts to tackle reckless off-road bikes in Chadderton

Last month we met with concerned residents at an advice surgery and representatives from my office attended a community meeting in Chadderton with local residents, the Neighbourhood Policing Team, local Labour councillors, and the Council Community Safety Team in Chadderton about reckless off-road biking. We’re pleased with the progress that has been made since and the work the local GMP neighbourhood team has been doing to address concerns with reckless off-road biking in the area, such as:

Created a 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎-𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 to reduce off-road bike incidents and general 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 & 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 – seizing any identified vehicles involved in this offending.

Installed 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 59 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 to act as a deterrent to people using their own vehicles in these car parks outside of working hours as any anti-social use can result in seizure of the vehicle.

Collated intelligence in regards to anti-social behaviour linked to illegal off-road motorbikes & are 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔.

Local officers have said they will be 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 60 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 & 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 to detect offences.

Resulted in 𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 over recent weeks meaning the high visibility patrols have some effect, although we are not complacent & know more needs to be done.

This work is ongoing, and concerns have been long held. Which is why on top of the community meetings & advice surgeries mentioned already, we also raised concerns with the Road Policing Unit in April, got assurances off them about their commitment to police these issues robustly, raised awareness of Operation Snap & it’s online submission of incidents portal, and attended a roadside operation on Broadway with the Oldham Road Policing Unit.

While we are encouraged by the progress so far, we know ending the scourge of reckless off-road bikes in the area will take time. This is why we will do all we can to continue to support the Council and local GMP neighbourhood team to crack down on the bikes and take full advantage of the support and reforms heading their way such as the government’s Crime & Policing Bill and the upcoming delivery of our neighbourhood policing guarantee of 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐂𝐒𝐎𝐬.

Local people should continue to report concerns to my team at jim.mamchon.uk@parliament.uk and the neighbourhood policing team in Chadderton, as well as engaging with us & the wider community to bring an end to reckless off-road bike usage in Chadderton and create a safer place – a local priority of ours at the general election last year.