Day of activity in south Sefton following recent incidents of anti-social behaviour

Officers carried out a day of action in south Sefton yesterday, Thursday, 29 April, in response to recent incidents of anti-social behaviour and the use of off-road bikes in the area.

Patrols from Sefton Local Policing teams and the Roads Policing Unit carried out activity in Netherton and Litherland throughout the day, including open land searches, quadbike patrols, roadside operations, stop searches and engaging with members of the public.

The proactive activity led to five arrests, the seizure of a vehicle, and five fixed penalty notices issued for traffic offences.

Sefton Targeted Policing Inspector, Ray Mavrakakis said: “Yesterday’s activity came after listening to concerns from the local community around the criminal use of off-road bikes and anti-social behaviour in areas of Litherland and Netherton.

“We know the misery that this can cause for local residents, and we will continue to work closely with partners to address these concerns, target individuals involved in anti-social behaviour, and disrupt criminal activity.

“Patrols carried out open land searches, made arrests, and seized a vehicle, while providing reassurance to members of the community. Roads Policing officers carried out roadside operations in response to a number of recent collisions, and quadbike patrols were present to target those involved in the use of off-road bikes, which we know can cause serious injury or worse when used inappropriately. We also carried out a number of stop searches as part of Operation Sceptre, a national week-long operation which aims to proactively target those carrying weapons and raise awareness of the dangers of knife crime.

“Those arrested include two men, aged 30 and 21 arrested on suspicion of cannabis possession, a 31-year-old man arrested for breach of a gang injunction and a 46-year-old man arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

“Proactive work such as this is carried out by officers every day to ensure Merseyside remains a safe place for our communities to live, work and visit and we will continue to listen to the public’s concerns and act on any information given to us. Information from our communities plays a vital part in bringing offenders to justice, so I would like to encourage the public to continue to come forward to us, or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously, so that we can take action.”

If you have information on criminality in your area, please contact @MerPolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.