Nuisance off-road bikers targeted with forensic spray

The traceable spray, called SmartTag, will allow officers to mark vehicles

Nuisance off-road bikers in Greater Manchester will be targeted by police using a special new forensic spray to "tag" offenders.

The traceable spray, called SmartTag, will allow officers to mark motorbikes, e-bikes and quadbikes with a bright yellow solution.

The spray contains a unique forensic code linked to the cannister it was sprayed from, which will help to link a suspect and vehicle to the scene of the offence.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police will then use an ultraviolet light to scan offenders' clothing and bikes, which will highlight the solution to show they have been tagged.

The spray contains a unique forensic code linked to the cannister it was sprayed from

The force said the spray has been rolled out across the region, including in Wigan, where officers had seized 19 bikes so far and made five arrests.

Inspector Michael Crosthwaite said signs would be put up in areas where the spray was in use.

"We would rather prevent anti-social behaviour in its early stages than it be a reoccurring problem," he said.

“That is our aim, we will mark these bikes and further down the line when we come across them, we can tag them to those previous incidents, take them forward to prosecution and to get the message across to the public that we are doing something about this issue.”