POLICE are working with a council to establish an authorised area for off-road bikes in Gwent.
Tackling illegal and anti-social off-roading is a priority for Gwent Police with complaints about the vehicles, where they are used and how, among the most pressing issues identified by local residents across the force area.
However Gwent Police Chief Constable Mark Hobrough said police need to focus on more than simple enforcement and said: “We can’t just say that all people who are riding off-road bikes are doing it in a reckless manner, that’s not at all the case.”
Complaints around off-road bikes in Gwent vary from concern at them being used recklessly in urban and pedestrian areas, including Newport city centre, and links to drug dealing as well as their impact on upland areas.
Mr Hobrough said the force dedicates teams to tackling the issue but he is also pleased it is working with others to try and avoid the activity causing a nuisance and law-breaking with a project in the Caerphilly Borough Council area.
He said: “Up in Rhymney, we’re working with the local authority to have a bespoke area for people to safely ride off-road bikes, to do it in a way which is meeting all those needs because just having a blunt way of saying ‘you can’t do’ is not the answer.
“You’ve got to be able to direct people into the right areas where they’re not having a negative impact on other people and you are able to facilitate all the things that they enjoy doing.
“That’s challenging in an environment where money’s tight. So it’s great to see that happening and I’d love to be involved in more of those community-oriented projects.”
£122,000 investment
Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen councils invested £122,000 from the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund in a project with Gwent Police to tackle off road crime in 2023 but the funding has since ended.
Money from the councils was used to ensure a police officer and a community support officer spent a dedicated amount of time in upland areas as well as to purchase a Land Rover, a quad bike and a drone to act as an “eye in the sky”.
Though the specific funding has ceased, Mr Hobrough said the force still puts resources into addressing the issue, alongside targets set by the Home Office for forces such as halving knife crime and violence against women and girls over 10 years.
“Nowhere have I been directed by the Home Office to concentrate our officers and staff on off-road biking,” said Mr Hobrough.
“However, having done extensive community council meetings, spoken to numerous stakeholders and members of our communities right across Gwent I understand that there’s not an area in Gwent where that hasn’t been in their top five, and mostly top three, concerns, so we dedicate our teams to making sure that’s looked at.”
The chief constable said off-road bikes present different challenges across the force area including Sur-Ron electric bikes that resemble mini motorbikes.
He said: “Depending on the area there’s different issues so e-bikes and Sur-Rons being driven, sometimes for the purposes of carrying drugs, might be a particular issue in a particular area. Off-road bikes being driven on the road recklessly are another area. Off road bikes in, muddy areas, they can be really bad too because we’ve got heritage sites that are destroyed and damaged.”