'Brazen' motorbike theft TikTok videos taunt Essex owners and police

Videos of riders on stolen motorbikes have been put on Tiktok to taunt owners and police

TikTok has said it will close accounts featuring motorbike theft videos which taunt owners and the police.

Thieves in Essex, thought to be under the age of 18, upload the films, some of which use police protection slogans such as "lock it, or lose it".

It is understood the thieves then seek out "missing" social media posts, using them to mock the owners and police.

The videos show thieves stealing, hot-wiring and deliberately damaging motorbikes.

Essex Police said it was working hard to tackle motorbike theft crime.

Elaine, whose surname the BBC is withholding to protect her full identity, lives near Thurrock in Essex, and is a home carer.

She told the BBC she was travelling between jobs on her Honda scooter when it was stolen while she was at work in October.

Elaine managed to retrieve her vehicle but the damage was expensive.

"I had to have a whole new loom which is like the whole of the wiring through the bike, so, it ended up costing me just under £1,000 to get a new panel at the front and the wiring done," she said.

She was not aware of a TikTok video of the theft until the BBC showed it to her.

"It's disgusting," she said.

"They're not even stealing them to sell, they just literally trash the life out of them and dump them."

Craig had two bikes stolen last year. He was shocked when he was shown a video featuring one of his bikes.

"That particular bike, I was very, very gutted about losing because I'd spent four years making payments on it," he said.

Kieran Donnelly-Shard runs Mad Slick Motorcycles on Canvey Island in Essex.

He said he has seen several videos of bikes being stolen, hot-wired and damaged online.

"The issue in the area is major at the moment," he said, with one of his customers being "harassed and bullied" by bike thieves.

"They stole one of his bikes and they tried to come back for a second one," said Mr Donnelly-Shard.

Motorbike images from TikTok videos

Mr Donnelly-Shard said the customer has had to keep his bike at a different address because the thieves had been returning to try and steal it.

He said many in the biking community were stressed, adding he was "outraged" the police had not yet arrested the people in the videos.

"It's a kick in the teeth because you can see who it is, you know who it is," he said.

"Social media knows who it is, they're naming these people and nothing's being done.

"It's becoming more brazen, they're doing it in the day, they're doing it from people's driveways, going into people's gardens, cos they're not getting touched for it," he said.

In a statement, Essex Police said: "Our officers take all reports of bike thefts very seriously" and had been working hard to tackle the crime.

It recently released footage showing officers arresting a suspect motorbike thief in the Thurrock area.

The force said its website offered tips on how owners could prevent thefts.

TikTok told the BBC it was removing the accounts featuring the stolen bikes.

The social media platform said its guidelines "categorically prohibit violent content and criminality on the platform.

"Any content found to be in violation of these policies will be removed immediately and action will be taken against violative accounts," it said.