ESSEX Police and Thurrock Council have unveiled their two new quad bikes which they believe will combat anti-social motorcycling in the borough.

The longstanding problem of riders using the borough's green spaces and illegally accessing private land to ride their bikes, has been regularly highlighted in the local media and has been a topic raised at many local forum debates and on social media.

Noe police officers on quads will be frequenting locations across the borough known to be popular with the riders. Previously, many of these areas would only be accessible on foot, which seriously compromised officers' ability to catch the perpetrators.

Thurrock District Commander Chief Inspector Mark Barber sasays: "Anti-social behaviour off-road has been a persistent problem in Thurrock.

"By working with our partners, we've seen a 54% reduction in anti-social behaviour and this is another step in trying to reduce the number of offences.

One of the police bikes in action at a local pit frequented by rogue riders.

"We've been working with the council and the Community Safety Partnership to come up with innovative ideas to take tacking off-road ASB to another level. I'm really proud that 12 months on, we're launching the first police quad bikes.

"We can't always get our police vehicles to the sites where this ASB is taking place - the quads will allow us to do this. They will be deployed across the district, and we'll be targeting those hotspot areas where off-road ASB really affects the community.

"If you live in Thurrock or are coming to Thurrock to commit off-road ASB, we will stop you."

Thurrock Council's former cabinet member for public protection and anti-social behaviour, Cllr Rob Gledhill - who played a role in drawing up plans for the quad bikes before he stepped down - said: "We know that these selfish off-road motorcyclists cause danger for people that want to enjoy the borough's green spaces and create a significant noise nuisance for people who live near the green spaces they target for their illicit activities.

"By funding these quad bikes and training the officers that use them we are able to take the fight to the off-roaders and prevent them from attempting to use the terrain to attempt to evade the law.

"This will transform the way Essex Police are able to tackle this appalling and dangerous anti-social activity by making them as agile as the off-roaders and giving them full access to the sites they use.

"I would urge anyone that has experienced this anti-social activity to report it to Essex Police through 101 or their online Digital 101 service. This will help them build up their intelligence to better target future operations."