Fears over increasing numbers of youths recklessly riding bicycles have been raised after footage showing a teen narrowly avoiding a van while performing a daredevil manouevre surfaced on social media.

%image(14563483, type="article-full", alt="Chris Read, 43, lives on Stafford Road in Great Yarmouth. He has described teenagers riding bikes along the road as a "nightmare".")

The video shows a young cyclist on Mill Road, near Belton, riding with his front wheel up towards an oncoming van but veering away at the last second. The move is known as a wheelie swerve.

A similar stunt last year saw a cyclist disrupt traffic on Gorleston High Street.

A number of such incidents have led police in Great Yarmouth to warn parents to make sure their children are not riding dangerously on bicycles on the roads.

The advice has been issued after several reports to the town’s police of groups of teenagers doing stunt manoeuvres on roads in the area.

%image(14563484, type="article-full", alt="Stafford Road in Southtown, Great Yarmouth, where residents are concerned about children dangerously riding bikes.")

“This is not only dangerous to the cyclists themselves but also puts other road users and pedestrians at risk,” police said.

Among the roads highlighted as a hotspot for the cycle groups is Stafford Road, a residential street in Southtown in Yarmouth, where residents have said it is a problem.

“I’ve seen them doing wheelies,” said Maurice Green, 82.

“But when you tell them to stop you get a sarcastic remark. They think it’s clever.”

Stafford Road is residential, with many families.

The speed limit is 20mph.

But residents said that cars speed along the road and they expressed concern that a bicycle rider could be knocked down.

Chris Read, 43, runs Southtown Bike Repairs and Sales.

He said the kids often ride four or five abreast up and down the road, sometimes doing wheelie swerves.

“The kids are a nightmare,” he said.

“Come six o’clock at night we call it the rat race.”

Patricia Chapman, 65, said she almost got run over a fortnight ago on Haven Bridge by a “lad doing a wheelie”.

“It is a problem, especially on the bridge.

“I was walking into town, he was behind me, he wheelied past me and caught my arm.

“I can’t repeat what I said to him.

“But if you say anything you get a mouthful back,” she said.

“It won’t be long before one of them is knocked over and it’ll be the motorist who gets blamed.” Selena Longworth, 36, said that her husband, a bus driver, has reported reckless cycling several times on Gorleston High Street.

Great Yarmouth police said: “We’ve had many calls about this problem and as these groups of young people tend to be aged under 18, we would like parents to be aware of this issue.”

In 2017 police in Gorleston warned nearly 20 youths about anti-social behaviour as they cycled around the town in groups.