Crackdown - South Yorks Police get tough on anti-social riders with 5k hours of patrols

Police in South Yorkshire have been ramping-up high visibility patrols, including their off-road bike team, to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Since July 2023, the force say more than 5000 hours of high-visibility police patrols have been completed in areas across the county identified as hotspots.

Between July and November 2023, a total of 5059 hours of patrols were undertaken with 1332 in Barnsley, 1362 in Doncaster, 1152 in Rotherham and 1211 in Sheffield.

The patrols were conducted by local officers and street wardens. The off-road bike team also carried out patrols while local neighbourhood policing teams conducted extra days of action.

The patrols resulted in 28 arrests while officers also took to the streets, looking for any signs of nuisance behaviour and combating issues there and then.

Chief Inspector John Mallows, who leads the operation, said: “We want everyone to feel that South Yorkshire is a safe place to live. Anti-social behaviour can have lasting and devastating effects on local communities.

“Anti-social behaviour can include noise, littering, off-road nuisance bikes, drug and alcohol misuse and begging. We have responsibility over some of these behaviours and your local council has responsibility over others. This is why it is important that we work with partners to tackle these issues together.”

The increased hours have also had a positive impact on the local communities, with residents and business owners commenting on the impact they have had.

One business owner told the force: “There has been a large decrease in anti-social behaviour and other offences within the store since patrols started.”