Off road dirt bikes causing disturbances in Gourock

Councillor Martin McCluskey says he has had numerous complaints from residents in the area around the Coppermine Community Centre about off-road vehicles being driven in the area late at night.

The Labour politician has been in discussions with community wardens and police about the level of noise being caused late at night by the rogue riders.

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Mr McCluskey told the Telegraph that the bikers had been spotted driving in the fields behind the Coppermine centre, as well as along a nearby dirt track and even in the car park.

He said: “It’s obviously causing quite a lot of annoyance for residents, it’s very noisy and there’s often a lot of litter left behind afterwards.

“Now that the days are getting longer the noise is carrying on until nine or 10 o’clock at night which is really annoying people.

“We saw earlier in the year issues with people driving on the grass at Tower Hill and we took action and it’s not happened since.

“There’s been more patrols from community wardens, which is great, and the gate there has been closed at certain points which has helped to keep vehicles out while maintaining pedestrian access.

“We need to be looking at how we can deter people here as well, because it’s causing so much of a disturbance to residents.

“I’ve discussed this issue with the police and the community warden team, they both agree that there need to be more patrols.

“There have also been multi-agency meetings held because of the issues with the recent fires on the moors, which could maybe be linked to the same individuals.

“There have been discussions between the council, police and fire service about how we can keep this area safe.

“Those discussions are ongoing, and it’ll certainly lead to more police and community warden patrols in the area and hopefully that deters people.”

The Gourock representative is urging anyone who is affected by the disturbance to pick up the phone to community wardens straight away or call the police’s non-emergency number on 101.

He added: “People who have bikes like this need to use them responsibly. There are lots of parts of the area that aren’t close to housing and aren’t going to cause this level of disturbance where they could use them.

“That’s what I would encourage them to do, not to be using these late at night when people and their kids are trying to get to sleep.

“It’s very inconsiderate, everyone can have fun and if they want to use their bikes that’s fine, but they need to think about when they’re using them and the impact it might have on others.”

A Police Scotland Spokesperson said: "We are aware of off-road bikes causing a disturbance in Gourock via complaints made to community wardens and to local Councillors.

"Officers are working with partners at Inverclyde Council in relation to this."