Campaigning Birkenhead MP Frank Field writes a personal column for the Globe and tells our readers of the struggle he is having with Merseyside Police in tackling motorbike crime in the town. And he says residents "deserve a much better response" from the force...

POLICE squads across Merseyside have stepped up their efforts in recent months to prevent the theft of motorbikes by thugs who then use them to wreak havoc on our streets.

Yet in Wirral the problem remains very much alive and kicking – half a dozen incidents have been taken up by my office in the past couple of months alone.

How so?

Residents report to me that the thieves are able to get away with it for two reasons: the locks on certain bikes are too easy to counter; and the police response on too many occasions is inadequate.

When I called a public meeting for residents to voice their concerns on this matter, we were all told by the police that problems had been identified around how easy it is to counter certain locks.

Despite asking for it, I have not seen any evidence since then of the police following up this information with the manufacturers of those bikes, to get the problem resolved.

Two years on from that meeting, we remain stuck at square one.

Likewise residents have made it clear that there are certain hotspots in Birkenhead in which bikes are most at risk of being stolen.

Almost all of the incidents reported to me have taken place within the same two or three streets.

Although the police have been told of these hotspots, residents report to me that this knowledge has not been acted on in the way it should have been.

Worse still, in four cases an initial theft has been followed up by a second one within the next month.

So there has been an unacceptable failure to prevent bike thefts.

What about the response to the thefts once they have occurred?

Again residents’ reports deliver a damning charge sheet.

The thieves are able to operate in certain blind spots, such as back entries, due to a shortage of CCTV cameras.

Suggestions for catching them, such as "baited" bikes or actually chasing the thieves, are met with what seems to be yet more inaction.

Even when I have attempted to gain answers on residents’ behalf, I have been greeted with silence – there is one particular case I raised with the Area Commander at the beginning of June on which I have heard nothing since.

A final straw is when residents are required to pay hundreds of pounds to retrieve their bikes from the compound in the event they have actually been recovered.

Of course the police are operating in harsh financial constraints. But there are options open to them that should quickly be considered.

The law does allow the police to pursue bikes and quads, for example, as long as correct procedure is followed.

And what about using stingers, or forensic tagging sprays, to catch and then identify the thieves?

One thing is certain though. Residents deserve a much better response than the one they are currently having to endure.