A GRIM warning that young lives are seriously at risk on a Forest cycleway comes from Ruardean Wood-side resident Frank Barnett.

Mr Barnett says better traffic control is needed where the cycleway crosses the busy Speech House to Cannop road.

"Although Forest Enterprise has fitted safety gates on the roadside there is no control over speeding traffic on this busy road. It takes quite a time for children to push their cycles across the road, sometimes hindered by unhelpful adults, but it only takes seconds for a car to arrive at 60 miles an hour.

"There is no speed limit, no slow sign, no rumble strip or warning lights. The only cycle sign does not even say the cycleway crosses the highway, and visibility is not good," said Mr Barnett.

He said that with National Road Safety Week in mind and children a priority the county council and Forest Enterprise should pool resources and ideas to improve safety.

"It's an urgent matter. We do enjoy the cycleways and we do not want a tragedy.

"The cycleways are mainly built on old railway beds and are generally pleasant, clean, tidy, safe and easy to operate, constantly reminding us of the Forest's history from the time when cycles and trains travelled at about the same speed and of times when there were only half the number of cars there are on the roads today.

"Speech House Road crossing gates gave priority to trains over road traffic and until the recent Foot and Mouth outbreak we had woolly traffic wardens to slow the traffic down, but now they have all gone," said Mr Barnett.

Mr Barnett has raised the issue of safety with the county council and has asked for the safety issue at the crossing and other cycleway crossings to be discussed at the next Forest Enterprise Forum meeting to be held on October 16.