Northumbria Police using drones and plain-clothed officers in antisocial behaviour crackdown

Northumbria Police have launched a crackdown on crime and antisocial behaviour involving motorbikes.

Operation Capio is underway with a focus on hot-spot areas of Sunderland and South Tyneside.

The force is using drones and plain-clothed officers to find those riding dangerously or illegally - and then confiscating their bikes.

Chief Inspector Neil Hall said "We're going to use a range of tactics... that enables us to get hold of the riders and seize the bikes.

"Obviously if they are stolen they go back to the owner. If they're not and they're being ridden illegally then they'll be seized and eventually end up crushed."

Hotspot areas are being targeted.

But Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, Kim McGuinness, told ITV Tyne Tees it is broader than that.

"This is a pilot in Sunderland and South Tyneside but it's got to be a region wide approach," she said.

"These bikes terrorise our neighbourhoods and that's true wherever you live in the area.

"And it's about sending a message here, testing it, getting results like we're seeing already and saying if you are riding these bikes anti-socially you will be caught and your bike will be crushed."

Nearly £200,000 of government funding has been secured for the crackdown.

Residents in problem areas are being urged to report incidents to help police with the operation.

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