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Nuisance riders face having bikes seized
Reporter: DAWN MARSDEN
Date online: 08/12/2009
CAUGHT on camera — these young bikers were snapped riding illegally and tearing up the land at Pule Hill in Stanedge.
The group raced around the grassy hills and valleys without a second thought for the land.
Insp Danny Milovanovic, of the Saddleworth and Lees Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “It is illegal to ride mini-motos on public roads and in other public places.
“The only place where they can be ridden legally is on private land with the permission of the owner or at a legitimate club.
“Anyone caught riding one illegally will be given an official warning, and those who ignore the warning will have their mini-moto seized. Vehicles will also be seized if riders have no insurance or valid documentation.
“We would urge parents across Oldham not to buy their children mini-motos for Christmas. These vehicles cause a great amount of annoyance in communities, mainly because of the noise, and can be dangerous for both the rider and pedestrians.”
Riding motor-cycles and quad bikes off-road is a criminal offence if you do not have permission off the person who owns the land.
When a bike is seized on public or private land the owner can only have it returned after paying a recovery fee of £150 plus a storage fee of £10 per day.
The bike can be destroyed or disposed of if not claimed from HM Recovery within a set amount of days.
However, if an off-road motor-bike is seized for driving on a public road, then the vehicle will be destroyed immediately because it is not insured to drive on the road.
Police have the power under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 to seize vehicles being used in a manner likely to cause alarm, distress or annoyance.
If anyone has concerns about the illegal use of off-road bikes, they are encouraged contact police on 0161 872 5050 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Saddleworth and Lees residents can also contact their Neighbourhood Policing Team on 0161-856 4524 or saddleworthandlees.npt@gmp.police.uk
Have Your Say
if the government hadnt banned green laning in the first place then these riders wouldnt be breaking the law.
but it was the do-gooder walkeers complaining that their paths where being eroded by these bikes. years later the paths are still being eroded! why? because it wasnt the bikes causing the problem. it was the walkers.
and like flake says, there are no mini moto's shown. they are full size adult and childs bikes.
also this report does seem a little rushed in the fact that these riders actually may have had permission to ride there. its just the saddleworth policing team jumping on their high horse as the riders are out of their area. this would actually be a matter for huddersfields force and not saddleworths.
There used to be land not too far from where this photo was taken that was used by bikers and ATV's, but it stopped being used because of the complaints to Oldham Council about the noise. Not all biker and ATV users are law breakers there are quite a few that have insurance, tax and registrations on their bikes. They can be used as work vehicles by farmers who have sheep on the Moors; does that mean Saddleworth Police will be chasing the farmers who are trying to do their jobs?
The photograph portrays 4 young persons enjoying their chosen sporting activity. You could see a similar photo anywhere in the world and nobody would be concerned. All other sporting activities such as football, cricket, rugby, swimming and athletics are catered for by the Council, these 4 yound persons enjoy scrambling,
They will most likely spend their evenings with their mates at one of their homes in the garage sitting, talking and repairing their motorbikes, harmful to nobody. The Council and The Police tolerate bad behavour throughout the town and seem to be unable to control it yet they want to brand these 4 young persons as criminals. Why don't the Council provide facilities for these motorcyclists to enjoy their sport.
MIKE (Retired Scrambler)
Crompton moor suffers from these morons too. They rip fences and walls down and if challenged give a mouthful and ride off. I have called the police several times but am yet to see the famous police off road bike squad. Fedupoldhamer, to greenlane you and your bike must be road legal. Sorry to disagree but the bikes on crompton moor cause untold damage.
Michael Dugdale summed it up very well.
considering we are the country where motorsport (be it cars or bikes) originated from, we as a country seem to neglect the facilities that we should have to nurture future talent. we do for all other types of sport.
if we had facilities like this then you wouldnt have as much problem with youths buzzing around estates on bikes as they'd have somewhere to go and enjoy themselves!
timberwolf, crompton more has been used for many many years for off road motorcycle use. this actually dates back from the mid 1950's back when it was still classed as industrial with the quarry and tin mines. its only in recent years that people have been using the moor for walking and oldham council have meddled with the land.
sorry but the bikes were there first in that instance!
and also the untold damage you say the bikes cause are tiny compared with the amounts of caused by the walkers straying from the paths up there.
many years of working with the oldham countryside rangers have proved that to me!
also i'll just add a couple of other little points.
to greenlane you actually do not need a road legalbike, only on officially adopted roads must they be legal.
and if you look at the actual ordanance survey maps the crompton moor site only has three official footpaths accross it. so any walkers straying from these paths are just as damaging as the bikes can be.
Bottom line. The trail bikes were operating illegally and were advised there was risk of being reported. The guy spoken to was polite - said they would leave. They rode down Pule to the road and disappeared. But after this reasonable encounter, they came tearing back up the hill. I now can't defend them - it was two fingers to the law. Not all of us are members of one sports group. I motorbike, walk, mountain bike and think more offroad areas should exist. But acting illegally doesn't help...
what good is a video when the riders can't be identified? Plus the track shown is not from a mini moto but a full size off roader! The only way to deal with this is to fine the people who purchase the bikes as they are the facilitators. Not that there's much chance of being caught. Go check out the petrol station at Lees Coop that's where they fill up.
By Flake @ 08/12/2009 14:17:40
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