Wigan borough police crack down on stolen and misused motorbikes

Five were seized in a crackdown on illegal and dangerous off-road-biking at Bickershaw Country Park.

Officers had received multiple complaints of near misses with walkers and pedal cyclists plus complaints about the noise and mess the activities were making at the nature reserve.

In response, police launched an operation and “quite literally pounced on a number of bikers who were committing offences.”

A post on GMP Leigh, Atherton and Hindley said that they seized five off road-bikes plus a van that had been used to transport some of the two-wheelers.

All of the motorcylists had come from the Merseyside area.

Police have also been sending out notices of intended prosecution in the post to those bikers they have missed previously, “so there is nowhere to hide. If you don't respect our community, we will take action against you,” the social media message added.

And officers have also recovered two stolen motorbikes in the area.

The abandoned vehicles were found by police patrolling Leigh’s Guided Bus Way on Thursday March 25, the thieves making off from the scene just as they arrived.

A social media post said that inquiries were ongoing to locate the offenders including forensic examination of the two bikes plus analysis of CCTV footage showing the offenders running away when the saw the officers.

One bike recovered had been stolen from Warrington on Wednesday and the other one hadn been taken from Leigh earlier on Thursday.

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