North Bersted moped riders are warned by police

Police community support officer Ollie Smith said the group of riders, who also use mini-motorbikes, had been annoying people with their antics.

They were irresponsibly riding the bikes around the Bersted Brooks local nature reserve north of Rowan Way, Jubilee Fields off Chalcraft Lane, the Stroud Green area and into Aldwick and Rose Green.

PCSO Smith told Bersted Parish Council on Tuesday enough was enough.

“We have spoken to them and issued two Section 59 warnings but they are still messing around.

“If we catch any of them on their bikes again, we will take their bikes straight off them. That’s my focus for the next two weeks to try and stop that behaviour.”

The problem began about a month ago and had worsened since the start of this month, he said.

He believed there were up to seven or eight of the riders in all. Four or five of them would usually go riding together.

“This group are generating a lot of calls and annoying a lot of people, including us,” PCSO Smith said.

The Section 59 warnings which were issued gave the riders notice their bikes would be confiscated if they came to the police’s attention again in the next 12 months.

But PCSO Smith said the situation had become bad enough to justify the police taking away the bikes from now on.

He was unsure if the trees at Bersted Brooks had been damaged by the riders because he had not received any reports of them being harmed.