VANDALS who wrecked mountain bike trails near Helensburgh could have killed a young cyclist, the chair of a community group has warned.

Mountain bikers discovered last week that trails in the hills near the Highlandman’s Road, above Helensburgh and Rhu, had been heavily vandalised.

Bridges and jumps on separate trails were destroyed, while rocks were placed in the middle of one route which could have caused serious injury, or worse, to an unaware cyclist.

The trails have been built by members of the Helensburgh Mountain Bike Meet Up group over the past year, with the backing of Scottish Woodlands, as a way to boost the physical and mental health of off-road cyclists of all ages during the Covid lockdowns.

Jackie Hood of Helensburgh Mountain Bike Meet Up and the Helensburgh Skatepark Project told the Advertiser: “The kids came off the hill last Tuesday at 7pm.

“They discovered the damage when they went back up after school on the Wednesday, so at some point in between those two times all the damage has been done.

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“All of Fox Red has been destroyed - gap jumps and a big kicker – it must have taken them ages to destroy them, all the bridges as well.

“It’s intentional. It’s malicious damage with intent to cause injury. If a rider was coming down and didn’t know the boulder was there, they could break their neck and be killed. That’s not being hysterical.

“Whoever is responsible for it has a deep hatred of mountain bikers – the majority of users are under 18 so it would be children that would be injured.

“It is important for people to be outdoors and enjoying themselves and someone has destroyed something that is good for their mental health.

“At another trail called Blood, Sweat and Beers, there was a big bridge that had been built from the bottom of the trail to the road. The logs have all been taken and thrown to the side, and you could really hurt yourself if you didn’t see it was destroyed.”

And Jackie says it is not just mountain bikers that have had their trails destroyed, but local hillwalkers too.

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“Someone had built a few bridges to improve the drainage for walkers and that’s all been destroyed,” she added, “so as soon as it rains the trail will be destroyed for walkers. It’s not just cyclists who are affected.

“They’ve put big boulders in the middle of another trail and destroyed those bridges. For walkers and runners as well it’s all been ripped up.

“One of the Helensburgh trail system members has repaired one of the bridges already so we’ll monitor it.

“It’s so disheartening to live where someone would do that. It’s not just ‘neds’ drinking and doing something stupid, it’s been a concrete, determined effort to destroy something.

“Scottish Woodlands are happy for the trails to be there and happy to be riding.

“The kids are devastated cause they spent the last year building these trails. Why would you do something that disadvantages children? These are the people you are hurting.

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“Forty-odd kids use it regularly and loads of individual groups. We are always considerate. The kids are considerate. It’s just dreadful.”

The destruction of the trails will affect children in the area the most, with summer holidays around the corner.

But Jackie insists this is not the end.

“Despite the fact the kids are upset at what has happened they’re starting to rebuild already,” she said.

“They’ll rebuild and repair.”