North Durham MP tables bill to tackle anti-social off-road bikes

Police officers should be able to seize nuisance off-road bikes from riders’ homes, a Labour MP has said.

MP for North Durham Luke Akehurst tabled the Off-road Bikes (Police Powers) Bill amid calls for a crackdown on motorbikes ridden through parks and on pavements.

He told the Commons the bikes were being “driven in a dangerous and anti-social way” and in some cases caused “damage and injuries”.

Trimdon and Thornley councillor Lucy Hovvels previously said she had “come across a lot of people who are living in fear” because of the bikes.

Akehurst said local police had told him there was a “loophole” in existing legislation around their power to seize off-road vehicles.

Officers already have powers to enter most premises, including private garages, to seize motor vehicles “used in manner causing alarm, distress or annoyance” or driven without insurance, but this does not extend to private houses.

Akehurst said his bill would seek to amend previously agreed laws to “give police powers to enter a private dwelling for the purpose of seizing an off-road bike that has been driven in anti-social way or without insurance”.

The MP added he recognised it was “an intrusive power” and “must be subject to rigorous legal safeguards and used proportionately”.

Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen previously said she wanted to send drones to follow anti-social riders.

Police are currently using similar bikes to catch suspects.

The government previously vowed to “crack down on the scourge of off-road bikes in public parks, dangerous e-scooters on pavements, street racing, all of which inflict misery on local communities”.

In a statement last month, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said as part of the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill, officers would no longer have to issue a warning before seizing vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour.

The bill will be listed for debate on 7 March next year.