Rogue rider battle won

A total of 1,612 incidents were recorded in the year to April, down from 2,283 the previous year.

The decrease comes despite a 19 per cent overall rise in reports of anti-social behaviour in the same period.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams - which comprise police and council officers - were established three years ago to combat yobs and the nine SNTs now employ about 150 people.

The SNT annual report also shows 1,182 warnings for off-road biking were issued and 210 bikes were seized last year.

SNT bosses say the drop in reports stems from targeted operations, greater knowledge of hotspot areas and persistent offenders, and greater awareness among the public.

The SNTs have also worked closely with the council, to install barriers to limit access to popular riding venues, and the fire service and trading standards to limit the sale of fuel to illegal bike riders and ensure vehicles are licensed.

Paul Brannan, head of the Neighbourhood Safety Unit, said he was delighted with the results. But off-road biking was still a significant problem and they faced an uphill battle to convince young people it was wrong. The Young People's Crime Survey of more than 2,000 young people aged between 11 and 18 revealed only 46 per cent thought it was anti-social. And a third admitted to having ridden an off-road bike.

Mr Brannan said: "A more enforcement and intelligence-led approach to addressing off road motorcycling and other vehicle nuisance has cut the number of reported problems.

"But we will always be up against it because it is very resource-intensive - with up to 10 officers involved in a typical weekend operation. They can be doing a lot of chasing around and every SNT area has at least one hotspot, such as Rabbit Ings at Royston, the Trans-Pennine Trail at Stairfoot and the Broadwater area in Bolton.

"The other difficulty we have is that a lot of young people don't see it as a problem and more and more have access to bikes.

"I would like to see a sensible debate about an off-road riding track in Barnsley, in the meantime we will vigorously enforce the law."