// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Illegal off-road vehicles to be seized on the spot as police warn of 'long walk home'
TikTok accounts linked to one group of off-roaders showed images and videos of damage being caused to ancient peatlands
Police say off-road drivers causing anti-social behaviour or damage to protected habitats will have their vehicles seized "on the spot".
PC Eryl Lloyd, of North Wales Police's rural crime team, said new powers allowed officers to take vehicles without notice, and warned offending drivers: "It's a long walk home."
Both the force and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said damage caused by off-roading incidents and other anti-social behaviour was on the rise.
In August, three men who caused "irreversible" harm to the Berwyn Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 4x4s were convicted after videos of them causing the damage were shared on TikTok.
Off-roaders caught damaging protected site after posting videos to TikTok
John Robinson, Michael Williams and Joseph Hodgson were part of a seven-vehicle convoy which drove from Liverpool to the Berwyn range, an area of moorland in northeast Wales, where they caused "serious damage" to the peat and bog habitat.
Robinson and Williams were fined more than £2,000 each and disqualified from driving for two months. Hodgson was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation for damaging the SSSI, as well as costs, and was also banned from entering the Berwyn SSSI for three years.
PC Eryl Lloyd – who is seconded to NRW – said his team had "definitely seen an increase in off-roading incidents".
As well as 4x4 vehicles and motorbikes, "we're getting a lot more reports about e-bikes, which also cause the same amount of damage as motorbikes" he added.