KINGSTON -- Riders of off-highway recreational vehicles will no longer be at home on the plains.

Selectmen this week imposed a 60-day ban against the use of OHRVs on Kingston Plains off Main Street in the center of town where their wheels have been churning through wet soil, tearing up turf and sod.

Selectmen said the problem has been amplified this year, because of the unusually wet winter and too-late spring, which has left the grassy plains wetter than usual.

"Each year we get more and more complaints about OHRVs," said Police Chief Donald W. Briggs, Jr.

He said riders may range in age from teens to adults, and about 90 percent of them follow the rules. However, he said, the other 10 percent ride across personal property, on roadways and on railroad beds where OHRVs are prohibited.

He said they cause damage when they use the Kingston Plains for their own recreational pleasure, without regard to the problems they are causing.

"It's not as if they are riding down the side of the plains going slowly. They are out there speeding, doing doughnuts, biting into the surface and tearing up the soil, and it makes a mess," he said.

To clean up the mess, town officials are beginning a three-year project to restore the grass on the plains, where numerous town events and public gatherings are held -- including the annual three-day Kingston Days celebration, which this year runs Aug. 1-3.

Selectmen Chairman Mark Heitz said the town is paying about $15,000 to reseed the plains, and OHRVs will impede that project.

"We don't want them tearing up the grass," he said. "We are putting in thousands of dollars worth of new seed."

Selectmen will meet with town officials May 12 at 7 p.m. to discuss the OHRV problem and the possibility of extending the ban beyond the original 60 days.

Selectmen asked Briggs to step up enforcement of the rules for OHRV users who not only ride across the plains, but may ride on town roads where OHRVs are also prohibited.

Riders will receive a warning for a first offense, but could be fined and have their vehicles towed for subsequent offenses, Briggs said.