Derry police enquiries after male flees leaving behind 'dangerous' scrambler

Officers from Waterside Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) responded and said they observed a male on a scrambler who made off across fields.

Checks of the area, including use of a Police drone, resulted in officers locating the scrambler, which had been abandoned in a field between Currynierin and Tullyally.

Constable Merron from Waterside NPT said: "When these machines are being driven at speed, creating a nuisance in built-up areas, close to people and homes, it's really dangerous. As well as serious safety concerns, there’s also the impact on people's lives in the community. It's also important to highlight that some scramblers do not comply with Construction and Use Regulations and Vehicle Safety Standards and therefore are restricted to “off-road” use only. This does not mean that they can be driven anywhere off-road. These vehicles should only be driven on private land where the landowner has given permission and should not be driven on pavements, roads, public property or parks.

"Insurance and safety equipment must be complied with as well in order to drive these vehicles legally. To anyone thinking about buying these vehicles, in particular parents for their children, we urge them to first think about where it is going to be used and the legalities surrounding it’s use."

This comes after police back in March vowed to clamp down on the dangerous vehicles. "We're working to remove these machines and apprehend offenders who are reckless enough to ride these machines illegally," said Inspector Gahan at the time.

Speaking about the incident on Monday, Constable Merron said: "Local residents have raised this issue with us over the past number of weeks. We will continue to monitor the area and deploy resources to remove these machines when they are found to be being used illegally. If anyone has information about yesterday's incident we'd urge them to report it on 101, quoting reference 1271 of 08/04/24 or make a report online via https://www.psni.police.uk/report You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. "