Local West End councillors Tim Barnes and Paul Fisher hosted a well-attended public meeting tonight focused on the issue of anti-social bikers, who are causing a huge disturbance for residents, visitors and businesses in Soho. We spoke to Tim and Paul after the meeting.
Cllr Tim Barnes explained,
"It's Friday night in Soho, and Councillor Fisher and I are outside St Anne's Church on Dean Street, where we just had a public meeting for an hour or so to talk about the problems of the bikers that have been meeting up in Soho and causing a huge amount of noise and other kinds of nuisance."
Cllr Paul Fisher continued,
"Absolutely. It's been a consistent issue for residents in Soho, and actually what we've seen is when residents have politely approached these bikers to ask them not to rev their machines, to comply with the law, they've been faced with a barrage of abuse. I know Tim has also spoken to them and received similar comments."
These individuals are thugs. There are examples of bikers who use Soho who are not, but I'm afraid the people we're concerned with are just committing crime, and we're really committed to getting rid of this problem."
Cllr Barnes concluded,
"And that's why this isn't just a case of Soho residents complaining about noise. This is about threats of violence. This is about a level of noise disturbance, that includes vibrating buildings, keeping people up at night at 4:00 in the morning. it's about people in balaclavas threatening and intimidating the police.
"So we're gathering evidence from residents and local businesses about the impact it's having on them in order to build a case for more resources. And we look forward to seeing those resources deployed in Soho over the coming months."
