POLICE want to deter youngsters from riding mini-motorbikes around an Oxford estate by giving them free trips to an Oxfordshire motocross track.

Residents on the Barton estate have long complained of youngsters – some as young as eight – riding mini-mopeds on the streets, pavements, and nearby fields.

Now neighbourhood officers have teamed up with a youth charity and Arncott Moto Parc, near Bicester, to try to set up a club for young people who want to take up riding.

Pc Chloe Sutton, who is behind the project, said: “We have experienced an increase in problems with youngsters getting hold of mini motorbikes and using them on the estate.

“It has not been quite as much of a problem in the last year, but we have had problems, especially in the Sandhills area.

“People go on the back roads by the fields and then into the estate. It causes problems with noise, and people walking their dogs feel unsafe because the bikes are being ridden in an antisocial manner.

“It can be dangerous, and a nuisance to people.”

She added: “I ride bikes myself, and so I know what the attraction is.

“We do not want to discourage that, but to give people a safe place to go and do it.”

The aim is to organise a trip to Arncott next month, with the hope of setting up a mini-motorbike club and offering regular chances to ride on a track.

Youth charity Toolbox will also provide training, including teaching youngsters about mechanics.

Charity founder Hazel Day said: “The sessions can help young people a lot, particularly those who are not doing so well at school or are finding mainstream education quite difficult.

“This captivates them. They enjoy riding, and many of them are already doing it illegally and in an unsafe way.”

If the project is successful in deterring youths from riding their bikes on the streets, similar initiatives could be launched on other Oxford estates including Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys.

Already signed up to the scheme is 12-year-old Max Webber.

He said: “I get a real adrenalin rush from going out on a bike, but I know not to do it around the estate.”

There have been 50 police seizures of mini mopeds and quad bikes across Oxfordshire in the last three years.

Last July, police bought a £70 trailer using money from the Barton Community Association to lend out to families so they can get the bikes to proper tracks.

To sign up for the sessions at Arncott, email chloe.sutton@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk