Stolen motorbikes have been recovered during a crackdown on motorbike-related anti-social behaviour on the Hawksworth Wood estate today.
The operation follows complaints from residents about the people riding motorbikes and quad bikes dangerously and anti-socially in the area.
The teams visited a number of addresses and seized seven stolen motorbikes and two stolen quad bikes.
A stolen car was recovered by officer using automatic number plate recognition technology and another vehicle was seized for having no insurance.
Another driver was given a fixed penalty ticket for using his mobile phone at the wheel.
Eight people were served with the county court injunction that was granted following the Kirkstall Road ‘Mad Max ride out’ incident on Hallowe’en last year.
The order, made under Section 1 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, bans anyone from participating in anti-social driving of motor vehicles, including motorbikes and quad bikes, involving two or more motor vehicles in any public place in the Leeds district.
Any breach of the order is a criminal offence for which offenders can be arrested.
A Community Protection Notice that prohibits anti-social behaviour was issued at one address following repeated complaints from the community. Any further breach will result in possession of the property by the council.
A closure warning notice was served on another address where any further breaches will result is possession being sought through the courts.
Chief Inspector Jackie Marsh, who heads neighbourhood policing in north-west Leeds and led today’s operation, said:
“This has been just the first day of an operation that we will be running over the next week to tackle motorbike-related anti-social behaviour and other issues that have been affecting the day-to-day lives of the law-abiding majority of people on the estate.
“We hope it will demonstrate to the residents that we are committed to responding to their concerns, and also send a very clear message to those who think they can continue to cause problems without having to face the consequences.
“We have seen some very positive results from this operation so far and we will be continuing to work closely with our partner agencies to take further action against those whose criminal and anti-social behaviour impacts on local people’s quality of life.”
Officers from the Inner West Neighbourhood Policing Team were joined by specialist off-road bike officers and staff from Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team and Leeds City Council Housing to target the ongoing issues on the estate.