A BIZARRE row between a group of mountain bikers and a one-armed bailiff allegedly ended in a tussle at the water's edge, filthy language and violent threats with a stick.

The bikers say they were victims of an assault. But the fishermen say it was the bailiff who was abused and it's the latest in a string of incidents where off-road bikers have become aggressive and even threatened to throw fishermen in the water.

One of the bikers, a Forest-born businessman, claims he was taking a group of friends along Forest tracks and accepts they strayed onto 'no cycling' paths around Lightmoor Pond near Cinderford.

"There weren't any signs so we thought we were okay at first," he said. "But then we came to a patch where a guy was fishing, so got off the bikes out of respect and went past him for about 30 or 40 metres. Up ahead the track went on to a normal Forestry tracks, so we cycled towards them.

"Then, out of the blue, someone shouted 'get off your ****** bikes.' Then we heard it again and this guy came running over shouting and being really abusive. He said 'You shouldn't be cycling on these tracks' and we said 'there's no sign' and he said 'There's an ****** sign around the corner.

"Then this guy grabbed one of my mates, pulled him off his bike and there they were rolling around by the edge of the pond – how the both of them didn't end up in the water I don't know.

"We did say to him – you can't behave this way, it's assault. But he said was the bailiff and was responsible for the waters. He then picked up a big stick, waved it around and threatened all of us with it. He also said we shouldn't be here because we weren't from the Forest, which really riled me because I was born and bred here.

"This could have been sorted easily, all he needed to do was tell us he was the local bailiff, you're not supposed to be on these paths and we would have got off. I was getting really riled but the idea of getting into a fight with a one-armed man was a non-starter. Five blokes attack disabled man. Wouldn't have looked good."

Dennis Sherwood of Forest of Dean Angling Club says the bikers would have had to go through broken fences to get to the ponds and there are 'no-cycling' signposts everywhere.

"They weren't attacked at all. They were very rude to the bailiff because he asked them to remove themselves from the pond. They took up a threatening stance and two or three other fishermen had to get off their boxes to come and help.

"This is the first time it's blown up like this for a while, but there have been quite a few problems with bikers in the past. When they are asked to leave they always give you a lot of abuse. I've been threatened myself. We've had groups of 15 come through in one go and bikers have even threatened to throw one of our guys in the water.

"We've got 600 anglers and we do a lot of work a spend a lot of money here. Many of the bikers just come into the Forest, spend no money at all and leave their litter behind.

"On top of that, we get abuse and we really don't know who to get in touch with to get something done about it."