Two Helensburgh mountain bikers have expressed their disappointment at repeated vandalism of trails in the town’s Highlandman’s Wood.

Alastair McCartney and Chris Wheeler help to maintain the trails which are enjoyed by mountain bikers, walkers, and runners.

The Red Robin and Dark Side of the Wall trails were damaged last week, with bridges and ramps being pulled up.

Chris said: “Whoever has done it has put in a significant effort.

“They’ve spent a reasonable amount of time pulling up bridges that have been built over culverts, and letting all the stuff they’ve pulled out fall back into the culverts which affects the drainage.

“It’s not something that’s taken ten minutes.”

This is not the first instance of vandalism on the trails, with the routes being damaged on three previous occasions too.

Alastair, who helped build the trails during lockdown with the landowner's permission, added: “The trail focused on by the vandals initially was one that had quite a lot of jumps on it. Riders ride down quite quickly to do the jumps.

“The jumps were torn up and we rebuilt them, and then they were torn up again, so we rebuilt again.

“They were torn up again after that so we gave up with the rebuilding because it was taking us weeks each time. We took out the jumps and put in bridges instead.”

The pair hope to see an end to the vandalism so that the trails can be enjoyed safely by people from all walks of life, with different interests.

Chris said: “The trails have been built and ridden mainly by mountain bikers, but they’re also enjoyed by walkers and runners.

“You frequently see people out jogging or walking their dog on them.

“Most people are super friendly and we’re happy that they’re enjoying the forest and the trails as well. It seems quite small-minded on the part of whoever has done it.

"When it initially happens, it really is quite dangerous. I was able to put a post on the Facebook group to let people know and warn them.

“If they ride into it not realising bridges are gone, they’ll drop into the culverts and probably hurt themselves.”

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