A quad bike was left stuck in the mud on Crosby beach after a scrambler bike caused hours of chaos.
Three men were arrested after a scrambler bike took to the beach on Monday (April 18). Merseyside Police were called at around 1.50pm to a report of a group of men riding off-road bikes on Mariners Road, Liverpool.
Officers said yesterday that they spotted the bikes on Queens Road and emergency services then descended on the beach. Eyewitnesses also saw two police helicopters circling the area, while dozens of people crowded around nearby to watch the scenes unfold.
READ MORE: Three men arrested after scrambler bike causes hours of chaos on Crosby beach
The red bike was seen on the beach by eyewitnesses at around 7pm, who said it was "doing laps" on the seafront. Pictures captured by the ECHO showed crowds gathered as the scrambler bike rider was "doing wheelies".
One man tweeted: " A bit of a Mexican standoff last evening down on Crosby Beach! 2 x helicopters, 11 police cars, 2 x Police Drones and numerous unmarked cars for a lad on a Dirt Bike! Oh and Hoylake Lifeboats Hovercraft!"
A spokesperson for the police confirmed on Tuesday (April 19) that three men in total had been arrested in connection with the incident. A 28 year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, driving dangerously, failing to stop, driving otherwise that in an accordance with a licence and using a vehicle without third party insurance.
Additionally, a 24 year-old man and a 22 year-old man were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. All three remain in custody.
A 4x4 BMW motor vehicle and an off-road scrambler bike were also seized by police. After a police pursuit a man rode onto the beach near Crosby Marine Lake and stopped the vehicle.
A photograph, taken at the River Alt Estuary, Hightown at around 7.50pm yesterday, shows a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) hovercraft next to a quad bike stuck in the mud. Men who appear to be police officers are standing on the hovercraft while the RNLI remove the quadbike from the mud.
The photo was taken by Mark Edwards from Formby Photographic Group, who told the ECHO : "I was out there just to photograph the sunset and I noticed this hovercraft coming across. The tide was right out, so it was quite a long way out, but this hovercraft came along and I had no idea what was going on.
"Then some locals said there had been incident and the police had been chasing motorbikes along the front. Apparently a quad bike got stuck in the mud and the hovercraft was going out to retrieve it. The photographs show the hovercraft showing up and pushing it out of the mud.
"They put a plank of wood under the tyre to get it out. I don’t know the details of the story across - I gather there were motorbikes doing ‘wheelies’ and the police intervened. The guys at Hightown that I spoke to said the police were chasing these guys and in the end, they just went off into the woods just off the beach."
The RNLI confirmed that it assisted other agencies in attendance last night. Merseyside Police has been approached for comment regarding the quad bike.
