UK flooding: Bikers protect Yorkshire homes from looting

'We saw people post on Facebook that they were trying to deter looters, and I thought who better to do that but 20-30 burly bikers'

Lloyd Spencer, left, and Dave Cariss, from The Drifters motorcycle club (Dave Cariss/Facebook)

Motorcycle clubs are protecting Yorkshire homes and businesses which have been evacuated due to heavy flooding.

After flooded businesses and homes had been broken into by thieves, several motorbike clubs decided to help local police by carrying out patrols in the area.

A West Yorkshire Police statement issued on 28 December said: "As the clean up of Mytholmroyd, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge continues, we are being made aware of persons attending the area and removing items which are being left outside properties either for disposal or to dry out.

"In order to ensure the safety of empty properties in the area additional police resources have been drafted in from other districts and areas.

"In addition to this, several motorcycle clubs from the Bradford and surrounding areas have volunteered to patrol the area as extra eyes and ears on the ground."

A cycle shop in Todmorden posted to Facebook to say they were "struggling for words" after being "robbed by the scum of the earth praying on flood victims".

PLEASE SHARE HELP FIND THESE THIEVES. Struggling for words here we got flooded on Saturday as did a lot of people. Last...

Posted by Cycle Factory on Monday, 28 December 2015

Dave Cariss, of The Drifters Motorcycle Club, told The Guardian: “We saw people post on Facebook that they were trying to deter looters, and I thought who better to do that but 20-30 burly bikers."

Mr Cariss and his friend, club chairman Lloyd Spencer, have been organising night-time patrols of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd.

They said they had been "overwhelmed" by the solidarity shown by other clubs, including Pyratz MCC, Broken Bones MCC and Nuntii Mortis MCC.

Mr Spencer said: "We spread out and go wherever needed. The police understood what we were doing. We are not there to offer anything physical. We just show our faces.

"Obviously we are not vigilantes. A lot of us are quite big, chunky lads, so that helps. We don't have to really say anything, just turn up."