Bikies gathering at the Backyard Bar and Restaurant on Northcote Rd today. Photo / Hayden Woodward
A planned bikie rally has been met with a huge police presence in Auckland's North Shore on Saturday.
About 60 people on motorbikes were gathering near the Backyard Bar and Restaurant on Northcote Rd on Saturday.
An observer who declined to be named said there were between 25 and 30 police vehicles in the street, including highway patrols, community constables, motorcycles and vans.
"There's 10 officers at the entrance to the carpark stopping motorcycles, taking their details," he said.
Waitematā police said on Friday they were aware of a motorcycle run scheduled for Saturday involving members of the Hells Angels Nomads Gang to be held in the North Shore and Rodney areas.
They said they would be actively monitoring the event, as previous events of that nature had caused concern for the community.
They would be "gathering evidence" of any traffic breaches or unsafe behaviour, and would "vigorously investigate and prosecute" individuals putting the community at risk.
They asked members of the public who witnessed unsafe driving to note registration numbers and where possible to film it.
Earlier this month multiple videos were posted to social media of large groups of riders, many on unregistered dirt bikes and without helmets, taking over the streets around Māngere Bridge, Hillsborough and Lynfield.
In one video, the group had blocked off the northwest-bound side of the Southwestern Motorway near the Hillsborough Rd exit, and riders were doing burnouts, blowing thick smoke through the traffic.
Residents say it was "terrifying" and had been happening with increasing frequency in the past year.
"It's amazing no one has been killed," said one Māngere Bridge resident, who declined to give their name.
He was caught trying to trade gift vouchers for sex with a 14yo, police say.