A 12-YEAR-OLD boy has been run over by an off-road motorbike only a week after police launched a crackdown on the problem.

The youngster was hit by the bike in the Eastbourne area of Darlington and needed hospital treatment.

The incident followed an unprecedented police appeal, in which detectives released photographs of bikers they wanted to question for putting themselves and others at risk.

Since the plea for the public's help was made in The Northern Echo, police have identified the majority of people in the pictures, which showed illegal off-road bikers in the Hundens Lane area of the town.

The boy is thought to have been hit by two people riding a trial bike at about 4.30pm on Monday. He was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital and was later released.

Sergeant Paul Robinson said: "It just shows what can happen when these bikes are being ridden by inexperienced people.

"They can cause injuries to people and, in this case, they obviously have done."

He said police had identified the people on the bike and planned to take action.

The problem has been escalating in recent months.

Sgt Robinson said: "It is a situation which we will now be monitoring continuously. The appeal in The Northern Echo has been a great help to us in identifying the people causing a nuisance."