A convoy of motorbikes will arrive in Cardiff later on Saturday to protest against alleged police harassment.

Hundreds of bikers from across Wales are expected to take part in the demonstration, which set off from Mumbles, near Swansea, at 0900 BST.

Hundreds of bikers will join the demo

Organisers of the event believe that traffic police are pulling over bikers too often, even though the rider may not have broken any laws.

They are planning to hand a petition with more than a 1,000 signatures supporting their calls for "police to back off" to Welsh Assembly officials.

A member of the Freestyle Riders - who have organised the protest - hopes the police will listen to their calls.

"We are not anti-police - they do a fantastic job - all we are saying is that bikers are getting fed up of being stopped for no reason.

One of our members got stopped five times on a journey from Pontypridd to Abergaveny

Demonstrator spokesman

"We want the law-abiding bikers to be able to enjoy the freedom of the road without the threat of being stopped.

"If a biker is breaking the law by speeding or whatever, then fair enough but a lot of bikers are stopped even when they haven't done anything wrong.

"One of our members got stopped five times on a journey from Pontypridd to Abergavenny.

"The majority of bikers just want to enjoy the ride on their day off and being stopped for no reason really spoils it.

"The protest is to highlight the strong feeling against what a lot of people consider police harassment.

"We also want better information on what bike accessories are legal, so we don't break the law without knowing it," he added.

Death rise

But police forces across Wales justify the number of stops as the number of people killed as a result of motorbike accidents continues to rise annually.

Sergeant Nigel Whitehouse, Community Traffic Safety Officer for South Wales Police said: "We don't go on a witch hunt for motorcyclists and they are wrong to say that we do.

In 2001, 35 bikers were killed in Wales alone

Sergeant Nigel Whitehouse, South Wales Police

"The situation is that motorcyclists are no different to the car drivers and if anyone is seen breaking the law they will get stopped.

"There are a minority of bikers - who are absolute maniacs on the road - and they give the majority a bad name and there has been a huge increase in motorbike accidents recently.

"In 2001, 35 bikers were killed in Wales alone," he added.

He added that police were working with bikers in the Bikesafe Cymru initiative to help improve rider standards.