Groundsman tells of 'horrendous' e-bike damage

The groundsman of a 157-year-old cricket club has joined calls for Bradford Council to tackle the menace of illegal e-bike riders.

Billy Ricketts said the wicket and outfield of Saltaire Cricket Club had been repeatedly damaged over the summer by youths misusing the electric cycles.

Local Labour MP Anna Dixon has written to the council's Reform leadership to ask whether a £200,000 fund set up by the previous Labour administration to tackle anti-social riding would be used to curb the problem.

The council said it would examine "how best to respond to concerns relating to e-bikes and e-scooters" in the coming months, with public space protection orders (PSPOs) among the options being considered.

Ricketts, who is 80, has worked as a volunteer groundsman at the club in Roberts Park for 45 years.

"It's horrendous. E-bikers, scooters, everything. It's just a no-go area for anybody that wants to have a quiet day," he said.

"We've had horrendous problems on the cricket square this year, churning it up and doing doughnuts.

"Basically it's a full-time job repairing all the damage done by e-bikes.

"When you approach people not to go on the cricket field you get foul and abusive language and 'it's a public park, we will do what we want'."

He praised local police community support officers but said "we get no help from the council".

"They do nothing, we don't see any park wardens."

Dixon said: "Residents across my Shipley constituency have told me time and again that they no longer feel safe on their streets.

"Parents have described near-misses outside schools and traders have reported groups of riders causing a nuisance.

"This funding was rightly put in place by the previous Labour council to address exactly these problems.

"I am urging the new council leadership to provide a straight answer as to whether this money will still be spent as planned.

"Residents cannot afford for this funding to fall between the gaps and become victims of a change of administration."

She urged people to sign a petition that she plans to present to the government in a bid to make customising e-bikes and e-scooters illegal.

A council spokesperson said the authority supported enforcement through its Vision Zero Bradford programme to reduce road casualties, as well as the Operation Steerside safety scheme run by West Yorkshire Police alongside other agencies.

They said: "The Operation Steerside funding is committed and available for this financial year to tackle dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour on the district's roads.

"The programme will support a range of road safety and enforcement measures aimed at reducing speeding, anti-social vehicle use and road danger, while improving enforcement capability, community engagement, education and the removal of offending vehicles from the road."

The spokesperson said the council was "also reviewing PSPO arrangements in urban centres this autumn".

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