ITV News joins police on hunt for illegal e-bikes as ‘epidemic’ worsens

We’re on patrol with Gwent Police in Newport when we spot it — an unregistered electric motorbike, carrying two boys, tearing through a residential street.

Officers move to intercept, but before they can get close, the bike veers off down a narrow wooded footpath and vanishes.

Even the drone tracking it from above loses sight.

It’s just minutes into the operation, and already the scale of the challenge is clear — these bikes are fast, untraceable, and gone in seconds.

“It is hugely frustrating because, trust me, we really do want to sort this issue out and get stuck into these people,” says Sergeant Jason Ghalamkary, part of the team leading Operation Harley – the force’s ongoing crackdown on dangerous and anti-social riding.

Illegal e-motorbikes and modified e-bikes are being ridden on roads, pavements, and through parks — often at speeds of up to 50 or even 70mph. And increasingly, they’re leaving not only dust but danger in their wake.

Across the UK, there have been multiple serious injuries and even deaths linked to illegal e-bike and off-road vehicle use in recent years.

In areas like Bettws and Alway, on the outskirts of Newport, residents told us they feel outnumbered.

“If they had to stop, they’d have no chance. They’re on the roads everywhere. They zip up and down on the paths. They don’t care,” one local said.

“They’re doing more than 20 miles an hour through the parks, around the schools at busy times,” says Catrin, a mum playing with her young son at the local park.

“There’s police coming up and down, but the bikes are just too fast… I don’t think the police can handle them,” she adds.

Gwent Police say nearly half of the complaints they receive relate to the dangerous and illegal use of these vehicles. But under new powers introduced by the government, officers will be able to crush seized e-bikes, scooters and off-road vehicles within 48 hours — instead of waiting two weeks.

Gwent Police say that’s a game-changer.

“We absolutely welcome that,” says Temporary Chief Superintendent Jason White, Head of Neighbourhood Policing.

“It brings swifter justice to those responsible for causing real issues in their communities — and crucially, it breaks the cycle. Before this, we were seizing bikes only to see them end up back in the hands of offenders. This stops that.”

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to the drone. We’ve got a view of We’re with Gwent’s police looking for illegal electric motorbikes. Yeah, they’re coming towards us now. The Ronnie coming down Green Meadow Road. But catching them is no easy task. Heading towards that roundabout. It should be coming up the Mand Avenue. Ash, if you can get mate, it’s going up the Mand Avenue. two up left on the foot. Within seconds, this bike has disappeared down a foot path and the challenge facing police is made clear. There they are. What we saw in Newport is a familiar site across the country. Even on pedestrianized streets, police say the aggressive riding of illegal e-bikes is a growing threat to public safety. Thank you everybody for coming to today’s briefing. We’ve spent months with Gwent Police in Southeast Wales who are dedicating more and more resources towards tackling illegal motorbikes. So the reason why we’re doing this operation today is response to antisocial and illegal use of motorbikes traffic offenses, drug dealing and possession of weapons. Today we join an operation in a Newport suburb. Bikes use this as an access road to deal drugs and this CCTV to support this activity in this area. The plan involves using ground units and a surveillance drone to track illegal vehicles back to where they’re kept and sees them. But within seconds of leaving the station, we hear a perfect example of just how difficult they can be to catch. Yeah, just one up in his mate all in black. He is. The drone operator has seen an illegal bike being ridden dangerously, but the rider disappears down a narrow wooded footpath and is lost. Not sure whether it is hugely frustrating because trust me, we really do want to sort this issue out and get stuck into these people. But, you know, when it comes to risking officer safety, public safety, officers jobs, we always have to risk assess and balance what’s going on to what we can do. Bettos is on the outskirts of Newport. It’s one of Europe’s largest housing estates. Police say complaints about illegal bikes and motorbikes are common. Well, as you can see, like a needle in a hay stack. And that’s why we need to build those links and that confidence and for the public to see us doing these things because once they see us taking a bike off someone, they I’ll happily report that. That’s why we like to use social media for these things. This is what we sees today. This is what we’ve done today. So might encourage someone else to say, “You know what? I’ll let you know about when I see them next cuz you are taking it on.” Police say the easiest way of confiscating illegal bikes is from community intelligence. How’s it going, guys? But not everyone is keen to share it. No. The bikes are clearly a concern for local residents. 20 mph obviously in the estate go down there 35 40 and if they had to stop, they’d have no chance. They’re on the roads everywhere. They zip up and down on the paths. They don’t care. They’re more than 20 miles an hour through the parks, around the schools, busy times. And do you see the police tackling this? No. There’s police come up and down, but the bikes are just too fast. They’re in and out the parks. I don’t think the police can handle them. Keeping our community safe is an absolute key priority for us in Gwen Police. As communities call for tougher action, the man responsible for tackling antisocial behavior says flooding the streets with ground teams is just one tool in the force’s arsenal. We’ve spoken with residents here in Gwent who say these bikes are causing mayhem in the community, being ridden dangerously, and they just don’t see the police stopping it. whilst we absolutely do not tolerate this behavior and it’s unacceptable. Um in the last 12 months we’ve seized almost 150 uh off-road bikes, ebikes and e scooters. Um but I completely understand the frustrations then when you see a significant footfall of police presence in an area with little or no return on that investment, how frustrated the community can feel. Tackling this is made more difficult by the fact that chasing these bikes often leads to more dangerous riding. The deaths of two teenagers in Cardiff after their illegal bike crash 2 years ago led to riots. They were sparked by controversy surrounding police involvement in the run-up to the crash. Officers tell me that incident in particular has made them even more cautious. It means forces like Gwent often use less direct methods to find out where illegal bikes are stored and confiscate them. The drone is able to geo tag that location. Give that to us and we know exactly where we’re going. We can go into that property. We have the evidence. We’ve got the footage. There’s an off-road vehicle being in here or there’s a vehicle that’s been dri driven antisoially. We are coming in. We are seizing it. But it’s not easy. Riders know they have the advantage and can escape down narrow footpaths and pavements. and bikes are often shared so they never spent too long at a single address. However, an unregistered quad bike is found while officers also seized an ebike. This limited return from so many boots on the ground shows that tackling this is very labor intensive. Last night in Sutton Road, this one Suron and one ebike. Welcome Cumberland Road by you’ve got new powers to crush these bikes more quickly. Is that something you welcome? Absolutely welcome that. Uh for a number of reasons. One is that it brings swift justice to those persons responsible for causing um adverse impacts within those communities and quality of life issues. But secondly, for me it breaks that cycle of reaffending as well because what we often find is that prior to these changes um bikes were being seized and then on occasion being re-released back into the communities, back into the hands of the individuals and you would then see that being replicated time and time again. So this is a welcome change for us. Persistence pays off. This e- motorbike was tracked to an address in Newport and seized. And under new powers, these vehicles will be able to be destroyed within two days rather than two weeks and without warning. The aim of this nationwide crackdown is to crush the problem and do it quickly. But with so many still on the roads, the chase goes on. Lee Williams, ITV News, Newport.