Nuisance motorbikes turning town into 'Wild West'

Chatham residents say "intimidating" motorbike and quad bike riders are speeding across parks, taking over streets and threatening members of the public.

Riders continue to gather at Barnfield Recreation Ground in particular, despite action by Kent Police and Medway Council, according to locals.

New measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, currently going through Parliament, will allow police to seize and crush vehicles without advance warning.

But one person says parts of Chatham are becoming like the "Wild West".

Tris Osborne, the Labour MP for Chatham and Aylesford, says the proposed law change will strengthen police powers to tackle the "menace" of nuisance vehicles.

Current rules do not allow vehicles to be seized unless the rider has committed multiple offences but the new law will act as a "deterrent", he added.

Police usually classify nuisance-vehicle crimes as people gathering in gangs on bikes or quad bikes.

Chatham resident Daniel Baptist says he has noticed gangs of "20 plus motorbikes going up and down the local streets".

"They won't be wearing helmets, some of them," he said.

"Some of them are on e-bikes, some are on illegal scramblers.

"It frightens the hell out of some of the older residents in the area. They can be extremely noisy. Especially when you've got gangs of 20 of them riding up the road at the same time," Mr Baptist said.

"It can be extremely noisy and quite intimidating."

Last year, Medway Council attempted to tackle the issue by introducing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) across Medway, meaning any motorist or bike rider caught causing nuisance could be fined and taken to court.

But some residents say people are still gathering and carrying out anti-social behaviour on their vehicles at sites like Barnfield Recreation Ground in Chatham, despite the strengthened powers available to local police.

The issue is documented by a social media profile called @Barnfield_Bikes.

The owner of the account spoke to the BBC but did not want to be identified for fear of his safety.

He said: "There have been incidents where residents have been threatened because they've challenged riders. They've ridden around them in an intimidatory manner.

"It's out of control… like the Wild West."

Insp Paul Diddams, from the Medway Community Safety Unit at Kent Police, says the area "remains a priority for both uniformed and plain clothed officers".

"Over the last five weeks patrols, both on foot and in vehicles, have attended 32 times," he said.

"These patrols included attendance on nine separate occasions over the past weekend."

Alex Paterson, councillor for community safety, highways and enforcement on Medway Council, says there have been 106 fixed penalty notices issued across Medway since the introduction of the PSPO.

He said it was "clear that police are using their powers", despite it sometimes being "dangerous" for officers.

He welcomed the government's plans to allow officers to seize vehicles on a first offence.

"We are keen to give the police as many tools as we can to tackle this so I would welcome anything that sent a clearer message to the criminals".