Praise for police team tackling scourge of illegal off-road bikers in Sheffield

The Off-Road Bike Intervention Team (ORBIT) has been praised and thanks for its efforts at reducing anti-social behaviour and crime linked with illegal bikes.

South Yorkshire Police set up the full time team in 2017 and is made up of a sergeant and 22 trained officers all with a passion for biking.

It was set up after the force identified that off-road bike nuisance and related anti-social behaviour are one of the biggest issues for South Yorkshire communities and one of the highest reported concerns to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

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During the Covid-19 pandemic the force experience unprecedented demand from the illegal use of off-road bikes, including collisions with pedestrians and damage caused to farmers’ land and livelihoods.

To tackle the issue the team expanded, ensuring officers are available all hours, including weekends and bank holidays.

In 2021 the team seized a total of 136 bikes that were either believed to be stolen or uninsured or for driving offences.

A total of 15 arrests were made.

The team also issued 19 Traffic Offence Reports, 83 warnings and reported 22 riders on summons to court.

South Yorkshire Police said: “Officers do not expect praise but when people take the time to write in and say thank you, it is appreciated and each compliment is passed on to all officers involved.

So far this year, the team have received at least one compliment a week praising their efforts.

Compliments consisted of one from Michael Jervis, who said: “Really pleased to see the off-road team in action, around my area and my cycle commute in and out of town. Having a dedicated, active and visible team addressing it is brilliant.

“It seems to be a good mix of enforcement and education and their visible social media updates with the impact they are having is really great to see.”

Another compliment, from an anonymous sender, read: “The off-road bike team are always helpful and demonstrate a good combination of tackling off-road crime as best they can but also showing an understanding towards the genuine biker community, and the sport in general.

“I always see comments from people in other counties wishing they had such a team on their force. Despite such a small number of officers dealing with such a large area, they have made a big difference with the illegal off-road problem and other related crime.

“Many in the community very much value this work and find these crimes to be very problematic even if they aren't actually reporting them.”

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ORBIT Inspector Clifton said: “Although we don’t expect praise or comments to be sent in from the public it is appreciated when we do and in addition to our data it gives us an insight into how our communities are seeing a difference.

“On behalf of my team I would like to say thank you for your efforts too; policing is two-way, the public help us build our intelligence and understanding and enable us to take action.”