POLICE officers on off-road motorbikes chased and caught a man who was seen with an air rifle in Keighley.

The three officers spotted the man carrying this weapon in woodland while on patrol in the Hainworth Wood area on Saturday.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "When he saw the police the man with the rifle decided to run off into the woods.

"As our officers were on off road motorbikes this allowed them to detain the suspect, who was in possession of the air rifle and pellets.

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"It is illegal to be in possession of a loaded air weapon in a public place, and the man was reported for summons for the offence."

The spokesman added that Hainworth has suffered a "high number" of incidents relating to illegal use of air weapons and antisocial use of motorbikes.

He said: "Although officers from our bike team concentrate on motorbikes they are still police, so deal with any incident that they come across. "Hopefully this will send a warning to others who use this wood for the wrong reasons, and encourage them to think again."