Operation Dragster - Off Road Bike Nuisance - Rochdale North and East

Update from Sgt Walsh - 

Officers and PCSOs from Rochdale North and East Neighbourhood carried out their first off road bike operation of the year on Sunday 25th January, they were assisted by volunteers from the community who were out spotting for any activity. 

Off Road Bikes and vehicles which illegally access the moorland and surrounding urban areas surrounding Rochdale cause a lot of concern for local residents and it one of our local policing priorities. 

There was relatively little activity on the moors potentially due to the foggy conditions however a couple of bikers made off from police at Catley Lane Head Rooley Moor and a group of three off roaders were seen heading towards the Lancashire area on Brown Wardle Hill

During the shift we had the following results -

1 x Off Road Bike seized in the Fir Grove area after a 15 year old male with no helmet seen riding round this area and Newbold was detained by officers on the operation. The male was stop searched and found to be in possession of cannabis. The bike will likely now be crushed as it is unlikely the bike could be made road legal which means it will not be released back to the owner.

Apparently the bike was valued around £2000 and was the second one that had been seized from him over recent times. Hopefully this will be a wake up call to the parents not to buy off road bikes and not to allow their 15 year old son to be riding on public roads without a helmet and no licence/insurance etc! Officers were in the area after we had received reports the previous day from a member of the public that off road bikes had been riding round Milnrow Memorial Park.

2 x Stop searches carried out in the Spotland Area after suspicious suspected drug related activity was spotted

1 x Vehicle which was stolen in a Burglary from West Yorkshire was recovered in the Rooley Moor Area

Warning issued to driver of a van which was suspected of picking up a Quad Bike in the Todmorden Road area

1 x Traffic Offence Report for no insurance issued

1 x Traffic Offence Report for using a mobile phone while driving issued

We will be increasing the frequency of these operations throughout the year

We would encourage residents to keep reporting off road bike nuisance to us, we are aware it can be frustrating that we aren't able to attend all reports straight away but the reports help us keep our list of hot spot areas up to date. Residents can contact us on 101, live chat on the GMP website or of course 999 in an emergency.