There were some fun and games to be had on Thursday when police were conducting the latest high profile event in Carlisle as part of Operation Colossus.

It targets antisocial driving as well as the use of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters which would be seized and crushed.

While I was there a, I presuming a teenager, on an unlicensed dirt bike who was not wearing a helmet, pulled a wheelie in full view of officers, sometimes on the wrong side of the road, not once but three times. They sent up a drone to trace him but it was tricky to follow him.

Needless to say that was my top line of the story I put across yesterday and it is set to go live on the News & Star website tomorrow and it has already been picked up by the BBC which added in extra info from the police press release.

Apparently police said they had identified the suspect but no arrests had been made as he was not at home – however, another motorbike was seized from the address and officers stopped a total of 20 vehicles following checks carried out on Thursday.

Anyway this is the story I filed which will go live tomorrow and it is set for the News & Star on Tuesday.

Yob pulls wheelies in front of police

AN ANTISOCIAL biker riding a dirt bike pulled a wheelie, while not wearing a helmet and sometimes on the wrong side of Orton Road in Carlisle, not once but three times on Thursday (August 14).

It was in the full view of police officers from Cumbria Constabulary who were conducting the latest part of Operation Colossus which lasts for 15 weeks and targets road safety and antisocial behaviour.

After the suspect made his third pass officers sent up a drone in a bid to follow his progress, as opposed to pursuing him on the ground, and it is understood traffic officers were also on the lookout for him.

Inspector Andy Leather, from the neighbourhood policing team for the Carlisle and Wigton area, was leading the operation and said: “It would appear to be a teenage male has gone past an off-road motorcross bike that is not road legal.

“He’s seen us and taken opportunity to do some wheelies. He’s been up and down three times, clearly showing off, clearly wanting to get a reaction from us.”

Regarding the use of the drone insp Leather said: “We’ll use the drone and try and get some footage of where he is and hopefully get him returning to his home address would be the ideal scenario.”

He said that the manner in which the motorcycle was being ridden was unacceptable and hazardous and described it as an ‘absolutely ridiculous display of dangerous riding’.

Insp Leather said Operation Colossus was a joint operation between the neighbourhood policing teams and the operational support department across Cumbria. He added: “Colossus is purely looking at road safety which looks to educate drivers around road safety.”

He said they would be looking at prosecutions where there were infringements of the law, whether it was speeding or document offences around MOTs and insurance.

Insp Leather said that a previous Operation Colossus even in Whitehaven last week had been a successful day. He added: There was a lot of engagement with a lot of vehicles stopped and drivers spoken to.”

He said that Orton Road was chosen because of community concerns were raised around speeding and general antisocial driving in the area and further operations would be carried out across the county during the 15-week run of Operation Colossus with three or four more dates planned in the Carlisle area.

Speaking last month David Allen, Cumbria’s police fire and crime commissioner, said that Operation Colossus was part of the force’s safer streets initiative.

He said: “We’ll be targeting e-bikes and the misuse of them that gets reported at my office on a regular basis.”

Mr Allen said it would also focus on antisocial driving and he added: “I know from doing my survey last year is literally the second most reported thing after antisocial behaviour.”

He said it would involve the force’s roads policing unit as well as the force’s neighbourhood policing teams. He added: “So if you’re using the road, you’re on an e-bike, look out, drive properly, make sure your e-bike’s legal. Otherwise, you will be stopped. It will be taken off you and it will be crushed.”