Measures put in place in bid to protect beauty spot
High fences have had to be put up at a beauty spot to stop it being destroyed by mountain bikers.
Pressure on the adjoining Nesscliffe Hill, Hopton Hill and the Cliffe north of Shropshire has been unprecedented all summer, countryside rangers say.
Despite putting up new signs, producing leaflets and working with mountain bike groups the problems became so bad at Hopton Hill that fencing has now been added as a last resort.
Shaun Burkey from Shropshire Council, which manages the adjoining beauty spots, said: “The pressure from visitors has led to concerns by other user groups as well as local residents which we have been addressing throughout.
“Measures put in place include installation of finger post markers throughout the site indicating where cyclists can go.
“We have also installed new information boards at the car parks showing a map of the extensive network of bridleways that cyclists can use. This was taken from a leaflet we produced which has been shared on social media and sent to mountain biking groups.”
He said that where potential hazards points exist, such as at junctions of bridleways and footpaths, additional warning signs have been put up and visibility splays have been opened up.
Last resort
“The issues on Hopton Hill have been particularly worrying. Certain mountain bikers have destroyed woodland wildflower habitats, damaged historical walls and felled trees, all to create very dangerous cycle tracks and jumps down through Hopton Hill.
"Cyclists have been hurtling onto Valeswood Lane with several near miss incidents with traffic and horse riders reported.
“Most recently we have also witnessed many cars parked along lanes around the site causing blockages and concerns for local residents if emergency services need to attend.
"As a consequence, and also as a last resort, we have had to erect high fencing around Hopton Hill in an attempt to keep the mountain bikers out.”
He said pedestrians could still enter the area via a high kissing gate.
He added: “We value people’s desire to mountain bike, indeed one mountain bike group regularly holds litter picking events, but we need to ensure other users are safe to walk and horse ride also so we must take a greater role in enforcing where mountain biking takes place.”
