Illegal dirt bikes used for crime on the rise

Unregistered dirt bikes used for smash-and-grab robberies and home-delivery drug runs are on the rise as the bikes are virtually untraceable. This comes as a service station attendant in Ingleburn was hospitalised after being hit in the head with a hammer.

• Police eager to stop reckless dirt bike riders in their tracks
• Plea following dirt bike thefts in Baulkham Hills and Rouse Hill

Unregistered dirt bikes used for smash-and-grab robberies and home-delivery drug runs are on the rise as the motorbikes are virtually untraceable.

In NSW, you can ride unregistered and unlicensed if you are on private property or on commercial tracks and circuits.

Ingleburn petrol station in Sydney's south west invasion. Picture: 7 News Sydney

But criminals are using the legal loophole to commit crimes across the state because the bikes are difficult to identify.

This comes as a service station attendant was hospitalised after being hit in the head with a hammer at Ingleburn.

Dirt bike gangs are getting away with crime because they don't have rego numbers. Picture: 7 News Sydney

About 5.20am on Saturday, the 25-year-old attendant walked outside of the petrol station on Lagonda Drive to get a jumper out of his car.

He noticed two people on a dirt bike pull up outside the doors of the shop, one holding a dark coloured object.

The worker believed he was about to get robbed, so he got into his car and started the engine.

One of the dirt bike riders ran over to the attendant and smashed his driver’s side window with a hammer, before using it to strike him in the head several times.

The attendant managed to drive off to another petrol station on Oxford Road and called triple-0.

The dirt bike bandits forced their way into the petrol station at Ingelburn. Picture: 7 News Sydney

Meanwhile, the two dirt bike bandits forced their way in to the petrol station on Lagonda Drive and made off with cash and cigarettes.

The shop attendant was taken to Campbelltown Hospital with non life-threatening head injuries.

As inquiries continue, police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

The dirt bike bandits made off with cash and cigarettes. Picture: 7 News Sydney

As police try to crack down on the spate of dirt bike crime, officers in the Mount Druitt and Nepean area state they have a number of trail bikes and specially-trained officers who are proactive in detecting and deterring illegal trail bike offences.

Police say these officers are regularly deployed and conduct enforcement operations.

Police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. Picture: 7 News Sydney

While last year Cessnock police launched an operation to crack down on illegal dirt bike activity. They successfully seized 60 unregistered bikes and found a number of them were being used to run home-delivery methylamphetamine operations.

If you are caught riding unlicensed on an unregistered bike without greenslip (CTP) insurance, you’ll be slapped with a trifecta of fines costing around $2,000.