Celebrities join band of bike protesters (From Gazette & Herald)

Celebrities join band of bike protesters

FAMOUS names have made a public call for action to curb speeding motorcyclists and heavy goods vehicles on a route through the North York Moors.

A number of celebrities and public figures with Yorkshire roots have backed the demands of a Ryedale pressure group, Bilsdale Against Noise and Danger (BAND), by signing an open letter on the issue.

The group wants action to be taken by North Yorkshire Police and the highway authorities to counter the dangers and environmental damage they say is posed by traffic on a 15-mile stretch of the B1257 between Helmsley and Stokesley, which runs through the North York Moors National Park.

Among the signatories of the open letter issued by the group are actors Patrick Stewart and Brian Blessed, cricketers Geoffrey Boycott and Fred Trueman, political figures William Hague and Bernard Ingham, TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh, and the acting Dean of York Minster, Canon Glyn Webster.

The letter says: "This is a site of extraordinary natural beauty, environmental significance and historical importance, rich in the relics of past generations, from drovers' roads and ancient castles to the world-famous ruins of Rievaulx Abbey.

"Damage to this precious park is not merely a matter of concern to local residents. It is a loss to the nation as a whole.

"Today, the safety, beauty and peace of the park is being destroyed by a comparatively new phenomenon: large numbers of speeding bikers, often riding in packs, many of whom travel from great distances to use the roads across the park as a lethal racetrack, racing at reported speeds of up to 180 miles an hour. Lethal crashes and serious accidents have become commonplace."

The chairman of BAND, Ken Braithwaite, said: "Anyone who knows the area cannot fail to be horrified by the sheer noise and frightening carnage inflicted on its roads every summer by the madness of literally hundreds of speeding bikers.

"This is the route known as the 'Yorkshire TT'. It is the route where speed records are set, to be recorded and boasted about on biker websites.

Helmsley community officer PC Ray Thwaites said: "Anything that reduces speed and promotes a peaceful life for residents would be seen as the right move."

PC Thwaites has recently launched a campaign to clamp down on defective or illegal exhausts in the town to reduce noise nuisance.

However, bikers say they are more sinned against than sinning.

John Clark, who runs York Rider Training scheme in Haxby, said: "I don't blame BAND for what they're doing, but there are also speeding and noisy cars that use that route.

"My biker friends and I are quite religious about sticking to the speed limits, especially in built-up areas. I live on a main road with a 30mph limit and so many car drivers speed past doing more than 40mph."

Andrew Timms, a member of Yorkshire Motorcycle Action Group, said: "There are a few out there who put loud cans on their bikes and use the roads as a way of proving themselves as riders. Some people ride way to fast, but it's the minority. The majority, like me, like their life and want to live it. This is a classic case of tarring all bikers with the same brush."

Mr Clark said he believed motorcyclists were being more sensible and this was reflected in some bikers' media.

Some months ago, the International XX Bikers Association website, which lists two North Yorkshire roads out of the six on its Best UK Roads page, described the B1257 as "TT wonderland" and also described the "cop factor" as "very rare".

It said: "Utterly remarkable, pure boy racer cocaine.....give it a try, we guarantee you'll be going there again and again. This road is quite simply, like a two-wheeled video game."

Now the same website describes the route as: "...best ridden at sensible speeds due to its notorious reputation... many police frequent this road nowadays and rightly so due to the number of unnecessary accidents by those who chose to exceed normal riding speeds."

The A169 from Whitby to Pickering is also mentioned.

Updated: 10:24 Wednesday, May 05, 2004