THURROCK Council's leader has welcomed recent police action to crack down on nuisance motorcyclists in the borough, the latest in a number of personal interventions on anti-social issues.

In recent days Cllr Rob Gledhill has taken a high profile role in operations undertaken against problematic issues in the borough.

Most recently the council flagged up his presence at an operation against joyriders in the Lakeside area and he also featured prominently in a Grays High Street day of action against fly-posters.

At the weekend he was also involved as police officers visited four known hot-spots used by anti-social off-road motorcyclists. Officers chased off motorcyclists, took details of vans being used to transport bikes and riders and moved a group of four vans on before they had a chance to unload bikes.

Cllr Gledhill said: "Thurrock Council is working closely with Essex Police to put a stop to the selfish off-roaders who think they can use our borough's green spaces for their illicit activities. They cause danger for those that want to enjoy green spaces and cause a noise nuisance for residents living near these green spaces.

"We have targeted council garages where bikes and quads used for this illicit activity could be stored and we will be working closely with Essex Police in the future on operations to trace, track and catch off-road motor-cyclists in the act.

"We know how much of a nuisance this issue is for residents and we are working hard to make sure that those who carry it out are brought to justice. I would like to thank residents who have helped us do this by reporting incidents to the police, this has recently led 'to' police issuing warning notices and shows that reports are taken seriously.

"I would urge all residents who experience this nuisance to report it to help us build up intelligence to better target future operations."

On Sunday, 20 March Officers visited Davy Down, North Stifford; Cherry Orchard Farm, Conways Road, Orsett; Long Lane, Grays; and Billet Lane, Stanford-le-Hope.