Yobs wreaking havoc on off-road bikes and e-scooters will have their vehicles seized by cops without warning

YOBS wreaking havoc on off-road bikes and e-scooters will have their vehicles seized by cops without warning. A sweeping crime crackdown will also let police bust into the homes of suspected phone thieve without needing a warrant if the victim has tracked down their device.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will expect officers to follow up cases where stolen possessions have been pinpointed. Her flagship Crime and Policing Bill is being introduced to Parliament today and includes wide-ranging measures, from curbs on protests to greater use of lie detectors for potential sex offenders.

A crackdown on anti-social behaviour will give the police powers to confiscate dangerous off-road vehicles immediately, whereas now they need to give a warning first. Ms Cooper told The Sun: “It should be one strike and the bike is off the road. “If you’ve got threatening or dangerous use of those bikes that is bothering the community, the police should be able to seize those bikes straight away and get them off the streets”.

She acted after watching two balaclava-clad thugs doing dangerous wheelies on off-road bikes next to a “terrified” woman on a mobility scooter. The Sun watched as cops demonstrated their new tactic of secretly following bike hooligans with drones before swooping on their address later.

Ms Cooper also hailed new laws letting police raid an address where a pinched phone or laptop is believed to be held. Where a victim can see their device on “find my phone” apps or an air tag, officers will be able to search the property with inspector-level sign off, rather than the time-consuming process of obtaining a warrant.

She recognised it is “extremely frustrating for victims when they can see exactly where their stolen phone has gone but nothing is done”. Labour is also taking forward Tory proposals to ban protesters from wearing face masks, as well as using flares and fireworks at demos.

Some 25 war memorials are also being given special status whereby climbing or vandalism will result in criminal charges. It includes the Cenotaph on Whitehall, but does not include the nearby Winston Churchill statue that has been targeted previously. Ms Cooper has pledged to recruit 13,000 extra police officers into neighbourhood roles by the next election to enforce the changes.

However many will not be new hires, but simply diverted from other areas of the force to going on the beat. By MARTINA BET. COPS should be catching criminals and not targeting grannies over Facebook messages, Downing Street said last night. It comes after Helen Jones, 54, was left shaken when two plainclothes officers turned up at her door after she criticised Labour councillors embroiled in a WhatsApp scandal.

Greater Manchester Police admitted she had committed no crime, but Ms Jones said she felt intimidated into staying silent. No10 yesterday said officers should be tackling knife crime, burglaries and violent thugs. The PM’s spokesman said: “The police should be spending their time protecting the public and dealing with the issues that matter most to communities.”.