How towns like Redcar can defeat scourge of off-road motorbikes and anti-social behaviour – Jacob Young

A particular element is a result of the illegal use of off-road motorbikes, unlicensed and uninsured, incidents of which have been making people’s lives miserable, particularly in areas such as Eston, Normanby, Teesville, Grangetown and South Bank.

There have been widespread reports from local people of these off-road bikes being used to ferry drugs between dealers, sometimes sadly exploiting young children in the process.

This exploitation is abuse, tragically ruining the lives of young people, greatly endangering public health and damaging the living environment of the people that I represent.

Despite attempts by Redcar and Cleveland Council to block off the unofficial routes that these criminals use, including more than £15,000 spent trying to protect Eston Hills alone, the problem persists. Additionally, efforts by Cleveland Police to tackle the problem have been largely fruitless, often hampered by the sheer scale of the task, with police resources spread thin over such a wide area.

Many people feel powerless, to the point where some of my constituents have ceased even reporting incidents of this criminality. There is the feeling that nothing will be done. This must change. I want to make a plea to my constituents who experience or witness this type of anti-social behaviour.

It is imperative that they report it. Each phone call helps the police colour their picture and enables them to better pursue the individuals responsible.

Beyond the menace of off-road bikes, another anti-social behaviour problem in Redcar and Cleveland is kerbside gangs.

Gangs of youths are causing minor criminal damage, while terrorising estates, and there are vulnerable people, such as the elderly or disabled, living on these estates.

I support Cleveland Police in wanting to see the courts become more stringent in pushing parental orders, whereby parents can be held responsible for their child’s behaviour, and that goes to the heart of the problem.

And although anti-social behaviour often involves criminal behaviour, this is not a problem that the police or Government alone can resolve.

I believe that it is for us as a society to create spaces where young people, especially young boys, are able to find purpose and self-worth.

Frankie Wales’s boxing club in Redcar is a perfect example. He helps young boys in Redcar and Cleveland not only to learn to box, but to achieve their potential and value their community, belonging to a positive gang.

Alongside his boxing club at Coatham Memorial Hall, Frankie hosts inter-generational events, where the young people he engages with on a day-to-day basis serve local care home residents and elderly people.

In so doing, they learn the value of supporting their wider community. This surely is a shining example of the third sector helping to tackle issues of anti-social behaviour in a way that national and local authorities and the police never could.

It may be charities, churches or community groups, such as Frankie’s boxing club, the Chris Cave Foundation or the Ladies of Steel youth club in Dormanstown. They demonstrate that it is only by coming together as a society that we can tackle anti-social behaviour. I believe we should do all we can to support them.

Jacob Young is Conservative MP for Redcar. He spoke in a Parliamentary debate on anti-social behaviour – this is an edited version.

HOME Office Minister Rachel Maclean said in response: “We are investing £560m in youth services in England over the next three years, including the youth investment fund, to transform the Government’s offer to young people and to level up opportunities right across the country.

“To kick-start the youth investment programme, an additional £10m will be spent this year in key levelling-up areas to enable local youth providers to invest in projects and expand the reach, number and range of services that they currently offer.

“I think that we all agree that these types of crimes have complex roots, and they often go back generations. We must tackle the causes of crime as well as having the appropriate powers, enforcement and sentences.”