Police in Walsall have seized four off road bikes which were causing a nuisance for people living in the community and made three arrests as they took part in an operation across the Walsall borough.

One boy, aged 16, was arrested on suspicion of stealing a motor vehicle and possessing an offensive weapon while a 15-year-old boy was arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of stealing a motor vehicle. An 18-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of possessing Class A drugs.

Four off road bikes were seized from the areas of Willenhall, Walsall town centre and Great Barr. Two of the motorbikes were suspected to be stolen while the owners of two others had their bikes seized for having no insurance. This now takes the total amount of illegal bikes seized across the Walsall borough this year to more than 40. 
 
Walsall neighbourhood teams, along with officers from Central Motorway Policing Group partnered up with partners including Walsall Council and The Rivers Trust to carry out the operation. Police also deployed a fixed wing plane to spot illegal bikers from the air and pinpoint their location and deployed their own specialist off road motorbikes which allows them to enter and patrol public parks, paths, and wasteland and track down offenders.

These bikes are often driven dangerously on roads and green spaces causing significant upset to local communities. Some are stolen and being used to commit crime such as theft, burglary and other related offences. Sergeant James Whild, neighbourhood policing supervisor for Brownhills, who was leading the operation, said:

“This was another successful operation where we made arrests and seized four bikes which were being ridden illegally. It was another excellent team effort involving our own Walsall neighbourhood team officers, officers from CMPG, officers from our off road bikes unit and the fixed wing plane from the National Police Air Service. As well as this we received help from our partners at Walsall Council and The Rivers Trust.

"“We have carried out a number of these off road bike operations in recent months after listening to the concerns of local people. We understand the nuisance they cause to people’s lives and that is why we are doing all we can to tackle the problem.

“Illegal off road biking is having a serious impact on our local communities which is totally unacceptable. We continue to run these operations and will be targeting people who use these vehicles in an anti-social and dangerous way.

"We are warning offenders who continue to drive these machines illegally and putting the public at risk that they will be caught. Their vehicles will be seized.”

"We urge residents to continue to report any issues so that we have up-to-date descriptions and locations via Live Chat on our website or by ringing 101. We would also encourage residents to sign up to the Community Alert scheme for updates using wmnow.co.uk.