More than 100 bikes seized in hotspot areas including Oldham

A total of 104 bikes have been taken off the streets with 33 arrests made in the process across Greater Manchester hotspots, with Oldham included in the list of areas targeted. 

The vehicles, which include motorbikes, e-bikes and quadbikes, have been seized for having no insurance, being driven in an anti-social manner or being suspected stolen.

GMP said that the antisocial use of these vehicles causes 'misery' within communities, impacting on the quality of life and posing a danger to those using the region’s roads and open spaces.

The issue has been the topic of Oldham's woes for some time, with residents slamming their dangerous use on the town's roads and sharing footage showing near misses, bikes riding through a children's football practice and cutting off other vehicles.

The bikes were found to have been involved in antisocial behaviour (Image: GMP)

Around Greater Manchester, GMP said that this sort of behaviour has led to fatal and serious injuries in road traffic collisions.

They also said that criminals are also using these modes of transport to commit further crime, including drug supply, robbery, burglary and theft.

Detective Chief Inspector Rick Thompson from GMP's Prevention Branch said: “I am really pleased that we have managed to seize more than 100 problem bikes, when this operation was launched, we made a commitment to crackdown on these sorts of incidents which have plagued our streets for many years now.

“This is a Home Office operation and we have had some really good jobs over the past few months, where we have used all of the resources at our disposal including operational support from our Specialist Operations Branch, utilising units such as Roads Policing (RPU), Drone and Motorcycle Unit and the National Police Air Service (NPAS).

One of the seized bikes (Image: GMP)

“Our work is not done, we will continue to monitor these hotspot areas and take action when needed, I would like to thank the public for their help, the information they have provided either during live incidents or post-incident.

“Their assistance has been fantastic, and we would not have been able to get as many bikes off the roads without them playing their part."

Data showed Oldham was one of the worst affected by antisocial behaviour involving bikes, with hotspots in Alexandra, Derker and St Mary's wards.

In Oldham, there were more than 660 incidents of anti-social behaviour on motorbikes last year, up around 40 per cent on the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour on motorbikes in the previous year. 

Footage recently also appeared to show a group of motorbike riders wielding a machete on a park where children were playing

Detective Chief Inspector Rick Thompson said: “If you know who is using motorcycles anti-socially or to commit crime, let us know. Report online or call Greater Manchester Police on 101, or 999 in an emergency. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

“We also want to know where these bikes are being stored. Please reach out if you have any information that will help us in our quest to reduce motorcycle-related crime.

“Our priority is to ensure that our roads and open spaces are safe for all.”