West Lothian cops issue stern warning to off-road bikers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Police are warning bikers using an area of West Lothian declared a protected monument to stop.Two years after police first backed a local partnership to tackle anti-social behaviour by bikers using tracks on local bings the area is still a magnet for off-road motorcyclists.And at the weekend police targeted bikers, warning them: “Don’t risk it” .Greendykes bing is popular with locals as a dog walking area and is also more widely known among the walking and outdoor pursuit community in Scotland.As the largest of West Lothian’s oil-shale bings it is protected as a Scheduled Monument, and provides habitats for a wide range of locally threatened flora and fauna, such as wormwoods, hares, red grouse, skylarks and badgers.It is the steep slopes that draw bikers from as far as Tayside and the north of England.

The bings became really popular with bikers during the pandemic lockdowns and social media has spread the popularity of the area.Online footage of bikers defying steep inclines to climb the bings also shows the damage being done as shale spoil is churned into deeply rutted tracks on the steepest slopes.At the latest meeting of the Broxburn Uphall and Winchburgh community council Sergeant Mike Hart said: “ We have visited the bings on a number of occasions and we engage with those using off-road bikes.“We deliver information to them and take details.“People have been receptive and have packed up and left.”He added: “We have to be there to catch them and if there are repeat offenders we’ll take appropriate action against them.”There are widespread problems with off-road motorcyles in housing areas, as well as sites including bings in the county.