The gang of seven men must have felt they were out of reach of law as they noisily rode stolen motorcycles and a quad bike around a remote woodland gravel pit.

But they hadn't reckoned on the latest weapon being used by Northamptonshire police to chase down criminals... off-road dirt bikes.

The Yamaha WR250 bikes, emblazoned in police force colours, are being used by specially trained officers to go in pursuit through woods, fields and wasteland.

Dirt searchers: Police Constables Lee Flavell and Eddie Eagles are two members of the Northamptonshire Police Scrambler Squad

To the woods: PCs Flavell and Eagles get to the places other officers can't reach

They were successfully put to the test on Sunday when the 'Scrambler Squad' swooped on a disused woodland gravel pit at Skew Bridge, Rushden, and arrested seven burglary suspects and seized three stolen bikes and a quad.

Pc Lee Flavell, 31, said today that the bikes allow the force to police 'hard to reach' areas, and admitted riding them 'is pretty cool'.

He said: 'Although its main purpose is to tackle motorcycle nuisance we use them everyday to get to places which are very hard to reach.

'If there is a search for a missing person required in the woods, or burglary and robbery suspects fleeing through woods, then they use us.

Deployed in the field: The police tractor has been loaned to Devon and Cornwall police to tackle rising agricultural crime

'We are also excellent down the narrow alleyways in the housing estates because we are much quicker than being on foot or on a push bike.

We can go anywhere on these bikes if the job requires it. They are also good for engaging people. Lots of people stop us and say "can you do a wheelie?".

'It's pretty cool. They get us to places where we couldn't get quickly on foot or by car.

'While we also use push bikes, we can cover much more ground on these bikes.'

Upstanding: An officer in Lancashire gets some funny looks as he rides around Blackpool on a Segway

Officers of the ten-bike squad can spend their entire eight-hour shifts patrolling crime hotspots.

The bikes have a single-cylinder four-stroke engine and can reach speeds of 80mph, but police are banned from breaking the off-road speed limit of 25mph.

To cope with the all-terrain conditions they are fitted with off-road tyres. They also carry kit bags for paperwork, and officers are kitted out with special off-road helmets with visors and radio earpieces, plus their batons and handcuffs.

Northamptonshire Police aren't the only force to resort to unusual vehicles to combat crime.