Farmers terrorised by off-road bikers in South Yorkshire

Gangs of illegal off-road bikers have been tearing across farmers’ fields and damaging crops in South Yorkshire.

As well as the criminal damage to fields, farmers in Cadeby and High Melton, near Doncaster, said they were also getting threats on a weekly basis from people using off-road bikes, quads and buggies.

One farmer who challenged a group for destroying crops with their bikes on his land, near Marr, on 18 February had a Belfast sink thrown at his car.

See also: Fear spreads as 30 farms are targeted by criminals

Scrambler seized by rural police © South Yorkshire Police

South Yorkshire Police’s rural policing team said “significant damage” was caused to crops and this was “not an isolated incident or teenagers having fun”.

A force spokesperson said: “These are groups of adults, 20 or 30 at a time, ripping up farmers’ fields and using the area as their own private racetrack.”

On Sunday 5 March, police caught two men driving off-road bikes without insurance in the Denaby area. Both failed to stop, but were apprehended and their bikes were seized.

Elsewhere, one farm in the Great Houghton area has had to report 47 separate incidents of criminal damage, costing thousands of pounds.

Police are urging farmers and landowners to keep reporting incident on the 101 non-emergency number, using the online Smart Contact portal.

“If it’s a crime in progress or an emergency, ring 999. If you are a farmer or landowner, please report every incident of criminal damage to your fences, locks, land or anything else you find,” added the spokesman.