Dear Cllr James and The Council’s Anti Social Behaviour Section,

I have been appalled by the Police’s lack of action against people misusing motorbikes etc., riding them dangerously eg. with small kids on the back without helmets, and riding them on footpaths etc.

PCSO David Jackson told the inaugural Open Meeting of the Friends of Midsummer Common held on 24 January 2007 in Wesley Church that he had the power to confiscate and crush vehicles being used in an anti-social manner.

On 10th September an Anti-Social Behaviour Meeting at Nuffield Road School was told by a Policeman and a PCSO that they were confiscating mini-motobikes which were being used in an anti-social manner, but that their owners were getting them back from the police on payment of a £125 pound fine. A member of the public suggested that if their owners were drug dealers then paying these fines would be no-problem. The policeman and PCSO at the Chesterton meeting were suggesting that they were doing all they could but were being thwarted by the system.

I have also met PCSOs (on 25/4/07, off Coldhams Lane) who said they can’t do anything about mini-moto use on unadopted (private) roads and carparks.

Why are Cambridgeshire police not using / not aware of all the powers available to them to deal with confiscated mini-motos and other vehicles, why is there such inconsistency in what they believe their powers are?

I have asked Cambridge Police via their website about the powers of PCSOs and had no reply.

North Somerset’s Strategy: “After having the engine crank drilled through and the frames cut in half the wreckage will then be fed through the force’s scrap metal system.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5124352.stm

Can you lobby the Police to try and get them to research and use the full range of their powers where they are appropriate?