Off-road bikers causing chaos in Great Barr neighbourhood

Thomas Davies, who lives on the Netherhall Park Estate, said bikers use their neighbourhood and Great Barr Hall estate as a race track, and alleged there is a “lack of interest” from police.

But the local police team said there had been an operation to tackle the problem over the weekend and three bikes were seized which are intended to be destroyed.

Mr Davies, 32, a sales manager who lives in the area with his partner and two children aged five and two, said: “For a number of years we have been plagued by off-road bikes and quad bikes, using our estate and adjacent land as a racetrack.”

He said between five and 20 bikers come to the area between 2pm and 6pm on weekends accompanied by cars which also race.

Mr Davies added: "The weekend of September 13 was a particularly bad experience, as we had 20 bikes and cars racing around our estate and causing havoc and nuisance.

“We as residents report these incidents to Walsall Police however there is an apparent lack of interest to act upon these reports. It is only a matter of time before a serious injury occurs, considering the number of children and dog walkers we have by us.

“I have previously met with two PCSO officers, who were very keen to resolve this issue, along with Councillor Adrian Andrew who has been an advocate in sorting this out.”

Mr Davies said Councillor Andrew has now been granted the use of a hawk-eye camera, which has been installed on a lamp-post at the entrance of the slip road leading to Great Barr Hall – one of the entrances used by bikers.

“The issue has got so bad that me and my family are considering moving areas to get away from it,” he added.

'Too late'

He said a large police operation tackled the problem last Sunday and this “will go some way towards preventing them”, but “it is too late really”.

Sergeant Jason Vlahakis from the local neighbourhood police team, part of West Midlands Police, said: “We are aware of residents’ concerns and taking action. Illegal, anti-social biking is a real nuisance and a danger.

“Colleagues in our traffic unit ran an operation here over the weekend that resulted in us seizing three off-road bikes. We will be looking to permanently retain and destroy those bikes.

“We’re working with partners to increase CCTV camera coverage on the estate and also looking to make improvements to a gate which will prevent bikers being able to access the location.

“We do take people’s concerns seriously. If anyone has information about who’s involved or has video footage then please get in touch via 101 or Live Chat on our website.”

Councillor Adrian Andrew, representing Pheasey Park Farm, said it was excellent news that police had acted to seize the bikes at the weekend.

He added: “We are working with the owners to secure the site at Great Barr Hall more effectively but it is proving to be slow.”

A plan to build new homes on part of the historic former Great Barr Hall conservation area and Green Belt was recently turned down by councillors.

By Gurdip Thandi and Mark Cardwell