A crackdown in Ardwick and Longsight over the summer had a positive result as twenty off road bikes were seized into police possession. The off road bikes require insurance but few riders of the miniature bikes have been found to have adequate cover for the vehicle. Operation Miniature ran from April to the end of September by the neighbourhood’s policing team and found that there had been a 16.6 per cent increase in the number of misuse cases when compared to the same time period last year.

It is not illegal to own a miniature motorcycle and Steve Palmer, the Longsight and Ardwick Neighbourhood inspector emphasised the damage that can be done with one of these bikes while speaking about the case. “The bikes can travel at speeds of up to forty miles an hour, so they are certainly not toys”. It is understandable why riders are required to have bike insurance considering how many accidents which occur at that speed result in death.