Action to tackle Preston's 'plague' of illegal motorbike riders tearing up football pitches

Security measures are set to be put in place around Tanterton Village Green, whose two football pitches have repeatedly been damaged by off-road machines ripping up the playing surfaces.

It is hoped that new fencing designed to restrict use of the facilities to those on two feet, rather than two wheels, will also deter dangerous and unlawful riding on surrounding footpaths – and make it easier for the police to catch up with any culprits who continue to flout the law.

Ingol and Tanterton Neighbourhood Council is to fund the £30,000 scheme, which has also been facilitated by Preston City Council, whose cabinet is expected to give the nod to the proposal on Wednesday.

A report to be presented to members says the pitches have been “plagued” by bikers who have done so much damage that local football clubs have sometimes been unable to use them.

The Lancashire Post understands the scheme will see existing fencing around the playing fields extended to fill in the gap currently found in about a quarter of the perimeter.

The present single-bar fence will also be bolstered by a second beam to make it more difficult to breach – and ensure it is equivalent to the new section.

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Neighbourhood council chair Neil Darby said the repeated wrecking of the football pitches was making a mockery of the efforts of the authority to bring the playing spaces back to use just over a decade ago, when new drainage was installed after years of the site deteriorating.

“At the moment, the fence isn’t a great deal of deterrent. [The new one] will mean the entire green is then hopefully protected from motorbikes.

“The way that it’s going to be set up will also prevent bikes from being able to [use] the footpath that runs around the outside of it – and that’s even more important, because an awful lot of motorbikes go tearing around causing problems in the area, driving on pavements.

“If people are absolutely determined to get their bike onto the field, they’ll be able to do it, but it makes it that much more [difficult] – and also means they can’t then escape as quickly when the police are called out.

“That part of Tanterton is designed so that everywhere converges on the green – so it means [the biker-riders] can go down any one of the cul-de-sacs, cut across the green and then come out [in] one of the other [roads],” Cllr Darby explained.

The city council designed the scheme – a service which accounts for £2,800 of the overall bill – and undertook the tendering process to find a contractor to deliver the project.

Elsewhere in the neighbourhood council’s patch, other improvements funded by the authority are also under way in an area known as Ingol Dip. A play park there was removed more than five years ago from land previously owned by social housing provider Community Gateway Association.

In the coming weeks, two new play spaces will be installed, one of which will be for older children than the one that was lost.

Cllr Darby said both the village green and play schemes showed “what a neighborhood council can do”.

More commonly called parish councils, they are the lowest tier of local government, covering the smallest areas – and are usually less political than the more powerful district and county councils that sit above them across much of Lancashire. There are around 200 of them in the county, but not every part of Lancashire has one.

The government has said it plans to boost the role of parish and neighbourhood councils as part of its plans to streamline the upper tiers of local government in places like Lancashire, which is set to see its 15 main councils slashed to just a handful in the next few years.