09 Jul 2023
The sun is shining, mums pushing fancy buggies are clutching their Starbucks skinny iced lattes and there is a topless teenage boy doing a wheelie on his BMX through the pedestrianised walkway…
Or maybe it’s the sound of revving engines waiting at the Lattimore Road junction on the London Road, an anonymous figure on a dirt-bike preparing to tear up the Tarmac as they accelerate in the Hatfield direction, treating the long, straight road like they’re competing in the Isle of Man TT.
Yes, that’s right, you are in St Albans in the summertime, when bikers of the petrol- and pedal-driven variety treat the city like some sort of arena for speed and stunts.
We’ve seen it ourselves just outside the Courtside Café near Alban City School – when a skinny dirt-biker riding without licence plates decided to spring his wheels up into the air before powering off down the Hatfield Road.
Not only did it look dangerous – if we showed his mum our video of it I don’t think she’d be super impressed – but think of the damage or injury it could have caused to other people, cars and buildings in the ensuing carnage when it – and it inevitably will – goes “wrong”.
Then there is the Holywell Hill manoeuvre. Wait at the Peahen junction, engine revving to deafening levels, before letting rip when the lights change and blasting down the hill.
These are not streets designed for this sort of reckless behaviour, the idling traffic you usually see waiting is only likely to reach speeds of 20mph before encountering another set of lights or queue of cars, and the pedestrians crossing are often mums with buggies, elderly shoppers and excitable children.
St Peter’s Street is largely pedestrianised, so parents are comfortable letting their toddlers run free –that is until they see a cyclist bearing down on them with absolute abandon.
Because of the nature of these incidents, the police rely on the public’s help to identify hotspots and report any offenders.
The days of numerous bobbies pounding the beat urging little Tommy to get off his Chopper and walk have sadly long since passed us by.
Acting Chief Inspector Ady Lysak, based in St Albans, explained: “Every day we review anti-social behaviour – because that’s what this falls under – and will identify key locations. Because we review it every day we can see where the hotspots are. We often get reports of racing on the dual carriageway near the Noke Hotel in Chiswell Green for example.
“Us being aware means we can provide a visible presence as a preventative strategy, but it’s a case of identifying those areas through people talking to us.”
For example, one of the policing priorities in east St Albans, including Colney Heath, London Colney and Park Street, is to reduce the anti-social use of motorbikes across the area, focusing on Colney Heath, Napsbury Park, Colney Street and Lye Lane.
Social media is often filled with posts about reckless dirt bikers in places like Highfield Park, but in isolation this will do nothing to tackle the issue, and the police need to be informed.
St Albans Neighbourhood Inspector Paul Caro said: “It’s obviously a difficult problem to eradicate so it’s all about having a presence, getting intelligence from the public as well, if there’s any footage captured, so we can take robust action.”
Ch Insp Lysak added: “Just by us being there means people are less likely to do it. We do issue Section 59 warnings for anti-social behaviour, we can seize people’s cars and motorcycles. We had a recent conviction for dangerous driving for someone doing wheelspins. We can act from recordings as long as we can identify the driver, but sometimes we can target the owner.”
If you have witnessed anti-social riding and have information which can help police catch the offenders, please email the safer neighbourhood team on stalbans@herts.police.uk
