Motorbikes stolen from tourists heading to Isle of Man TT Races

Several motorbikes were stolen from Liverpool during the Isle of Man TT races, but later reunited with their owners.

The TT festival is an annual event which runs from May 27 to June 8, and which draws motorbike enthusiasts from across the world to the Isle of Man, with many travelling through Liverpool on the way there.

There were a number of bikes reunited with their owners during the festival. Two German TT bikers were reunited with their motorcycles on May 28, after they were taken from Queens Drive, Walton.

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Officers quickly recovered the bikes and sent them over to the Isle of Man via the ferry. One motorcycle stolen from the Albert Dock was also recovered quickly by officers and a French TT Tourist was taken to be reunited with his motorcycle in Kirkdale after it was tracked to Snowdrop Street.

Merseyside Police said six motorcycles out of eight that were reported stolen during the TT Races were recovered as part of the force's Operation Needle. Five of the motorcycles belonged to TT bikers while three thefts were not connected to the TT Races but were successfully reunited with their owners within 24 hours of them being stolen.

Sergeant Craig Winstanley, Op Needle, said: “Liverpool city centre has welcomed several thousand motorcyclists over the past two weeks as they travelled to the Isle of Man TT festival. It has been a pleasure for the team and me to meet and welcome visitors from right across Europe to our city.

"Unfortunately, some groups have seen this as an opportunity to target motorcyclists staying within the city centre. We have made several arrests and whilst the operation may have finished, we will continue to pursue lines of enquiry to identify those responsible for these thefts.”

Anyone with information on motorcycle theft is asked to speak to officers, message @MerPolCC, call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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