COUNCILLORS in Chadwell St Mary have challenged the efficiency of new measures put in place in the area to try and stop the nuisance of off-road bikers in advance of the full launch of a new scheme by police to introuce officers on quad bikes.

Following a verbal update on Essex Police's activities regarding off road nuisance vehicles at this week's meeting of Thurrock Council's Cleaner, Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Sara Muldowney, has raised several questions.

Members were briefed on the role of a recently commissioned Essex Police quad bike team and other community safety issues by Thurrock District Commander Chief Inspector Terry Fisher who said: "We continue to push with Operation Caesar which has seen far more significant success since its relaunch 2021. In the year to 2022 we issued 35 section 59 orders, more than double than 2021.

"We've seized three vehicles and crushed another and interestingly we've not identified any repeat offenders, which is something which we weren't expecting which does actually show we're not seeing the same individuals over and over who are not heeding the same advice."

The council has agreed to commit £20,000 of capital and the Community Safety Partnership, of which the council is a member, will support the scheme with a further £10,500. Police will "resource and provide ongoing revenue costs".

The scheme is concentrating on five hotspots in Rainbow Lane Stanford-le-hope, the rear of Essex arena or Davy Down nature reserve, Orsett Heath, Chadwell St Mary, Blackshots and Grays and Colne in East Tilbury.

Ch Insp Fisher added: "Our quad bike trial was successful. We are on course for a September launch for the team. The training courses are booked for the officers allocated to the team. Quad bikes are on order. One is due to arrive in late June. The other in July. So all is on course, We're the first of its kind in Essex so a lot of interest will occur."

The council and police said they were looking at securing points of entry to the trouble spots - but failings in doing so have been highlighted.

However, after the meeting Cllr Muldowney – who did praise police for ';stepping up to the plate' – had questions about recent work undertaken by the council to try and stop rogue riders accessing and leaving public open spaces.

She said: "Essex Police are clearly stepping up to the plate to tackle this issue and are bringing forward innovative ideas to address this decades long and persistent nuisance."

"As councillors for Chadwell St Mary, which contains one of the top five hotspots for this kind of nuisance, Cllr Chukwu and I welcome this new initiative and the fresh ideas Acting Chief Inspector Fisher is bringing to policing this issue."

"The police explained how quad bikes would allow their officers access to remote areas where this nuisance takes place. I can see how this would allow police to engage with and detain out of borough offenders, who would need to load their vehicles onto loaders or vans before escaping.

"What is less clear, though, is how having a quad bike team will help police address the local nuisance bike problem in places like Orsett Heath, when local riders can quickly flee the scene through multiple exit points."

"I accept that the police do not want to put the public in danger by pursuing these riders, but it does leave the question how will it work in practice?"

Cllr Daniel Chukwu by the new staggered barriers on the Heath.

Fellow Chadwell councillor, Daniel Chukwu, also raised concerns about the target hardening barriers recently installed on Orsett Heath by the bridge over the A1089 leading to Blackshots, saying: "Last November, Cllr Muldowney and myself met with police and council officers to discuss target hardening on the Heath. It was agreed that staggered barriers before the bridge to Woodside Academy would help to slow motorbikes down entering the Heath and make it less attractive to those who like to do laps around Blackshots onto the Heath and then through Chadwell roads."

"Residents have waited seven months for this target hardening to be put in place, but when Cllr Muldowney and I went to see the results, we found that the barriers were completely ineffective due to the big gap to the left of the new barriers, meaning that bikes can easily ride around them. I welcome promises from officers to look again at how to make these barriers an effective deterrent.

"At the moment, it is just another huge waste of taxpayers' money."

Committee chair, Cllr Joy Redsell said: "I'm hoping that what's coming now will make a difference. We need to do something. We've had one biker who lost his leg, we've had one person killed and we've had a couple of children hurt so where do we go before kids lose their lives. We need to move forward with this."