POLICE are urging parents in Inverclyde to think twice before buying off-road bikes and e-bikes for their children.
The call comes after local officers launched an action plan to tackle the illegal use of off-road bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters.
The operation ran over the summer.
Chief Inspector David Doherty, Police Scotland’s area commander for Inverclyde, said the illegal use of the vehicles was a national issue and posed a number of dangers.
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He told a meeting of Inverclyde Council’s police and fire scrutiny panel: “Off-road bikes, dirt bikes, electric bikes and electric scooters all present as a problem.
“As you know, it’s a national problem and we see the dangers that they present.
“And over the summer we did run an action plan, and we managed to seize a number of bikes.
“They’re not cheap to buy, either, and if you know kids are getting these bikes, you certainly shouldn’t be using them the way that some of them are.”
Chief Inspector David Doherty, left, and Councillor Paul Cassidy spoke of their concern at the illegal use of e-bikes. (Image: George Munro)
To be used on the road, bikes need road tax and insurance and fall under road traffic legislation.
Once seized, they will not be returned unless the owner can show proof of ownership and provide proof that they are insured and have a valid MOT.
Any found to not be roadworthy will not be returned to the owner.
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Councillor Paul Cassidy welcomed the initiative, saying illegal bike use had been an issue in his area.
He told the panel: “The question arises about what happens when those bikes are driven on the road without insurance.”
In August, the Telegraph reported that five people in Inverclyde had been charged and made in connection with 20 suspected road traffic offences.
(Image: Police Scotland)
At the time police also said they had seized four e-scooters and one e-bike in the area.
And earlier this month we reported on concerns raised by local councillor Natasha McGuire that young people were riding e-scooters the wrong way down a stretch of the A78 trunk road in Greenock.
Councillor McGuire said the problem of dangerous and illegal e-scooter use is ‘widespread’ across the local authority, with ‘most councillors’ receiving reports about improper use of the vehicles.