Members of the infamous Bike Life UK motorbike gang have been featured in a BBC documentary, showing the daily battle between police and bikers on the streets of Thamesmead.
Broadcast online on BBC 3 last night, the 30-minute programme Britain's Most Wanted Motorbike Gangs? goes behind the wheelies to understand the motives of bikers who use the estate as their playground.
One of the group’s most notorious bikers, named only as Wavey, denies claims their activities are putting pedestrians in danger.
He said: “We show respect when we’re riding.
“We respect pedestrians, we respect other cars. We even try to respect the police.”
Describing Thamesmead as “one of the most deprived places in the UK”, the narrator said bikers regularly take over a strip of roads to perform their stunts.
Plumber Liam, 23, features in the documentary Britain's Most Wanted Motorbike Gangs? (c.) (C) Jonny Wright /Special Edition Films
Clad with masks covering their faces, the bikers are filmed speeding down Sewell Road en masse, doing wheelies as they whizz past each other.
But the police are never too far away, as officers turn up and the helicopter appears overhead.
Wavey said: “They see we aren’t doing anything wrong, they send the f***ing chopper out.
“All that tax payer money to watch us do a few tricks on the road.”
The documentary meets other Bike Life figures on the estate, including Kones, Bubbles, and 23-year-old plumber Liam.
During filming police in Thamesmead carried out a crackdown on bikers on the estate, blocking off roads and stopping anyone involved with the group.
The frustrated bikers are quick to defend themselves, claiming biking just helps to release inner stress.
Wavey features in the BBC 3 documentary in Thamesmead.(c.) (C) Jonny Wright /Special Edition Films
Liam said: “They wanna label us thugs year, we’re not thugs…we ain’t thugs.”
The documentary follows Wavey all the way to Miami where he takes part in a huge ride with bikers from across the pond.
It also sees Kones end up behind bars for eight weeks for breaking a riding ban, and Liam in hospital with a badly injured foot.
But the bikers say they’re all willing to take the risks, despite often putting their jobs and family in jeopardy.
“Bike life till I’m dead”, one of them says.
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