AUSTRALIA - Rebels bikies clean up their act

OFF THE WIRE
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Rebels bikies at a police check point. Picture: Tom Klein Supplied

MILDURA residents were breathing easier after hundreds of Rebels bikie gang members rolled out of the city bound for Adelaide.
Scores of police were on hand in Mildura to welcome the outlaw bikies, who descended on the city from all over Australia on Friday for their annual meeting.
Police officers, many heavily armed, patrolled the city streets during their stay.
The Rebels, the country's largest outlaw bikie gang with 70 clubhouses throughout the country, pulled out of Mildura about noon.
Victorian and NSW police manned a random breath test station at Irymple, 6km south of Mildura, as the bikies headed for the South Australian border.
They hit the northern suburbs of Adelaide yesterday afternoon.
A police spokeswoman said the bikies' Mildura stay had been incident-free.
Rebels members were subjected to licence, registration, roadworthy, helmet and alcohol and drug tests as they made their way to the regional city on the Murray river.
A hotel owner said the visit had gone off without a hitch.
"They were all very well behaved and polite. We've got a country music festival on here this weekend as well, so there has also been a bunch of boot-scooters getting around the town, but it has all gone off really well," he said.
Bikie gang members were among a throng of guests evacuated from a popular Mildura hotel when a fire extinguisher let off by a prankster sparked fears of a blaze.
Firefighters were called to the Mildura Grand and evacuated its guests when a fire alarm was activated about 4am yesterday.
A group of about 40 bikies is believed to have been staying at the historic hotel and were evacuated along with other guests.