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Officers in Essex have publicly destroyed a number of mini-motorbikes confiscated from antisocial riders, in a warning to other owners using their bikes illegally.

On August 1st, Harlow District Council and Essex Police marked their Operation Catch and Crush initiative by having a number of seized mini-motos, quad bikes and scramblers flattened by a tractor in the middle of the town's market square.

This followed a month of monitoring Harlow for owners riding their bikes illicitly on public land or in a way that caused nuisance to local residents, with the public also urged to contact the police if they witnessed any illegal usage of these vehicles themselves.

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PC Peter Cran, who led the campaign, commented: "The public crushing of these bikes sends a clear message that we will not tolerate mini-moto nuisance within our communities.

"This is the second successful crushing event to be held and it is reassuring that the number of complaints and bikes seized for crushing has been dramatically reduced."

It is the efforts of forces such as Essex's that recently convinced the government to reject proposals for compulsory registration of all off-road vehicles, on the grounds that it deemed existing measures for dealing with the issue to be already sufficient.

Last summer, the Home Office responded to concerns over antisocial mini-moto use by granting police powers to give suspended points penalties to criminal riders too young to yet hold a license, as well as to destroy the bikes of repeat offenders.

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