‘We’re trying every tactic’: Sunderland chiefs fight back against off-road bike menace
Community safety chiefs stressed they are trying their “very best” and using “every tactic available” to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by off-road bikes in Sunderland.
It came as concerns were raised over nuisance riders in the city and what actions were being taken to catch those responsible.
Councillor Antony Mullen highlighted the issue at the latest meeting of Sunderland City Council’s scrutiny co-ordinating committee, asking what more could be done.
He said: “I know it’s difficult to report them because by definition, they’re on the move, and people get fed up with reporting saying they’ve seen one and then nothing happens.”
The Conservative group leader on the council therefore quizzed if there was anything further that could be carried out to help build intelligence and find where people are taking the vehicles, and potentially seizing them.
Michelle Coates, community safety manager at the council, responded by noting there is a Northumbria Police dedicated motorcycle disorder team in place which is getting “some really, really good results” in Sunderland.
She also urged residents who witness any anti-social behaviour or nuisance riding from off-road bikes to report it to the council or police.
Speaking at the meeting, she added: “With motorcycle disorder it is quite difficult to sometimes take enforcement actions because those people are difficult to identify.
“We are trying lots of new tactics, we’ve now got a standalone reporting form which we never had in the past which now allows people to put in a lot more intelligence.
“We are doing a lot of work in the schools, we’re going in there with quite hard hitting presentations around kids who have had accidents on bikes.”
She continued: “We are trying our very best to combat this, it’s always going to be one of those anti-social behaviour issues that I think we’ll have to keep chipping away at, we’re deploying cameras, we’re doing days of action, we are seizing bikes, we are trying every tactic available to us.
“We just have to keep chipping away at promoting reporting, promoting our successes, promoting what we achieve, and try to build that trust and confidence so that more people will come forward and report.”
She added with every complaint they get, now the individual gets a call back, which has “increased the reporting” as they are seeing “more trust” from residents.
The discussion came as part of a report on the Safer Sunderland Partnership’s draft Community Safety Plan for 2025-2029 which went before the latest meeting of the scrutiny co-ordinating committee
Labour’s Cllr Linda Williams said one of the things that often comes up in her ward, Washington Central, is that residents aren’t reporting issues.
She added: “I do know sometimes residents are frightened to do so for a range of reasons, but I’ve been encouraging people, when on about bikes, please ring 101 at whatever time, and just let the services know.”
To report off-road bike nuisance to Sunderland City Council, residents can use the online form at sunderland.gov.uk/report-asb or call the local authority’s anti-social behaviour team on 0191 520 5550.
They can also report incidents of nuisance motorbike riders and any intelligence to police at https://www.northumbria.police.uk/ or by calling 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers by visiting https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ or calling 0800 555 111.