Police target off-road bikers

Off road bikers and four by four drivers who are ripping up Llangollen's spectacular, Horseshoe Pass could be hunted down by police helicopter.

Police and countryside experts today launched a campaign against what they call an illegal and dangerous menace. They want people to carry a special telephone number with them to report the vandals and they are warning offenders they can be fined up to £20,000 and can have their vehicles seized and crushed.

The telephone number, 0845 6071002, means that anyone seeing illegal off-roaders tearing up the landscape can immediately report them.

The campaign to protect them is backed by North Wales Police, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Forestry Commission Wales who say the damge is so bad it can be seen on satellite photography.

The Heather and Hillforts Project's Moorland Field Officer, Nick Critchley, said: "We have a fantastic natural environment here which is under threat but we are fighting back.

"We are going to look more to enforcement bikes and vehicles being seized and crushed and offenders being liable to fines of up to £20,000.We need people to report these illegal activities so we can catch the culprits red-handed."

Sergeant Jon Turton, of North Wales Police, based in Denbigh, said: "We can use the force helicopter to track them and call us in on the ground.

"At weekends this area is becoming a destination for organised groups from the Midlands and the North West - it is dangerous and damaging - you can see the evidence of what they've done on Google Earth."

He said on nearby Llantysilio Mountain, illegal biker had created a race track that was damaging the ramparts of an Iron Age hill fort and crossed a Bronze Age burial mound over 4,000 years old.€

"We have changed priorities so that we can deploy police forces now to tackle this problem.

"There is a network of roads suitable for road-legal off-road capable vehicles and this information can be found on Ordnance Survey maps and through local authorities. We would encourage non-road registered bike users to join clubs and enter organised events or use their nearest official practice track."