Police crackdown on Ripon crime spike

North Yorkshire Police put out a facebook warning that these problems would not be tolerated in the city.

“Earlier this year we shared details about a new operation we put it place in Ripon to tackle a spike in anti-social behaviour, street robberies, assaults, and other criminality in the city,” said a force spokesman.

“This operation saw promising results with a significant reduction in such incidents and much fewer young people causing trouble on the streets.

“Sadly, over the last few weeks we have seen a real spike in ASB again, with troublemakers riding unlicensed motorbikes and stealing vehicles for joy rides.”

As a result there has been an increased police presence across the city to target those ‘causing misery’.

Incidents during high visibility patrols included: a driver arrested for possession with intent to supply after a vehicle was stopped; a car seized and the driver arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs; two section 59 notices issued to drivers of two vehicles seen racing on Ripon bypass; six verbal warnings issued to drivers for speeding or the manner of driving; a motorcycle rider issued a fine for number plate offence.

A number of young people were also stopped and spoken to about the police operation.

The police spokesman added: “We seized a pit bike under Section 59 following numerous reports recently from members of the public and after it was seen racing on and off the roads around Morrisons and a 17-year-old boy was given a section 59 warning for anti-social behaviour.

“We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and over the next few weeks, we will be actively patrolling Ripon as part of Operation Driver with some of our resources being more visible than others.”

Police asked for residents to be their ‘eyes and ears’ and added: “We are grateful for each report that we get and each piece of intelligence that enables us to respond and deal with these issues quickly and effectively.”

Coun Andrew Williams said that the rare Grade II listed Cabmen’s Shelter in the Market Place had again been targeted by vandals.

“We have some youths who think it is funny to put the windows through,” said Coun Williams. “It is going to be repaired again.”

Police urge people to report incidents by phoning 101, where people can also request a call back, or 999 in an emergency.