25/06/2026
Important post from Imerys in Cornwall. We respond to numerous incidents on their land throughout the year and work closely with their dedicated staff.
It's a sorry state of affairs having to share a post like this.
Please mindful, a lot of imerys land is still being worked or contains various hazards. Help to educate kids and young adults to the risks ✅
One of our colleagues has been assaulted by a member of the public 😡
This long but important post will no doubt divide opinion - but we strongly feel the issue needs to be addressed....
Last week, we became aware of a young person racing a motocross bike on an active haul road in Littlejohns pit, near Roche.
As locals know, this is a working pit. Our fully loaded, 115 tonne mobile plant use these private roads all day long. Drivers do not have full visibility due to the height of the cab, and so a small, fast moving motocross bike could very easily go unseen. Obviously - a collision between a bike and 115 tonne truck would end very badly for the person on the bike. This is something we are always working to avoid, but it is becoming more and more challenging.
On this occasion, the young person was accompanied by an older male. When our colleague approached him to ask them to leave, he was verbally abused. We have become quite used to this, sadly. But on this occasion, the member of the public then physically attacked our security patrol, leaving him with facial injuries.
We fully understand the frustration of local people who want access to mining land. This is why we are constantly working to open up more safe spaces and have added 25 miles of permissive paths this year.
However - we receive complaints every week from the public about motocross and e-bikes terrorising walkers and horse riders on permissive paths and the clay trails.
Our security team members, who - remember - are also just local people trying to do their job - are subjected to verbal abuse almost every day. Vandalism is increasing all the time. This is not just ‘kids having fun like we did back in the day’ but aggressive, destructive, mindless behaviour.
We have dashcam footage of this recent incident and we have shared this with the police.
Our focus remains clear:
- Safety first: Avoiding a tragedy is our absolute priority
- Continued access: We will continue to expand safe, accessible areas for the community
- Community partnership: We remain committed to listening to concerns, but we will not tolerate the intimidation or assault of our staff
Thank you for taking the time to read this 👍
