The new Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Ambassadors for Community Change have hit the ground running and have been busy helping Glenys Newby from Approach Too to deliver an assembly for Year 5 and 6 children about the dangers of off road bikes, quads and E scooters.
Glenys said: “The police regularly receive complaints about the anti-social use of off-road motorbikes and quads.
“They annoy, scare and intimidate lots of children, families and older people. Off-road bikes can be noisy, which can disturb wildlife and other people. Off-road biking can harm the environment and can damage plants and soil, and disturb animals.
“To reduce harm, police operations are carried out across County Durham and illegal bikes and quads are seized and riders taken to court. Parents and carers who allow children to use these vehicles illegally can also be taken to court, fined and get penalty points on their driving licence.”
Remember…
- You can only ride an off-road motorbike or quad legally if it is on private land and you have the landowner’s permission. Land owned by the local council is not classed as private land and neither are nature reserves or wood land trust areas.
- It is against the law to ride off road bikes and quads in public open spaces such as parks, play areas, on pavements and in car parks.
- If you ride on a road, even for a short time, you will need to have a licence, insurance, tax, display a registration plate and hold a valid MOT.
Glenys added: “We want to inform everyone in our community about the dangers of illegal off road bikes and would like to say a big thank you to Poppie, Christabelle, Ava, Sammy, Daniel and Jack for their help.”
You can report illegal off road bikes to the police by calling 101 or online at www.durham.police.uk.
By following the links from the ‘Advice and information’ section at the bottom of the Durham Police home page, you can click through to ‘Antisocial behaviour’ and then to ‘Vehicle nuisance involving cars, bikes and mopeds’.
Once there, you can also learn more information about the common types of vehicle nuisance, their impact and what you can do to help combat the problem.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
