Vandals bury broken glass at Shropshire beauty spot

A group of mountain bikers came across large shards of glass which had been buried in the tracks on Nesscliffe Hill, near Shrewsbury.

The glass appeared to have been deliberately broken into jagged pieces and then buried upright in the loam on a tight bend.

On previous visits, the bikers had also come across large hay fork buried in the path as well as a large amount of glass sprinkled across the ground.

All the incidents have now been reported.

Laurence Williams was the one to discover the glass last week.

He was riding along the path and only saw the glass at the last minute, causing him to throw his bike to the ground and fall in to the bracken.

He said: "It's not as if we were riding where we shouldn't have been. It was just on the path, which anyone could use. They were very large pieces of glass which someone had deliberately buried in the ground. I was lucky that I saw it, but if it had been someone else it could have been a very different story.

"The path is well used, it could have been a dog or a horse who cut themselves on the glass and it would have made a huge wound.

"A while ago I found a hay fork buried prongs-up in the path. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to dig a deep hole and then bury it.

"I use the hill a lot and I know it is popular with mountain bikers as well as horse riders and walkers with or without dogs. I just can not understand why someone would do this. The hill is there for everyone's enjoyment.

"All I can imagine is that someone, or a group of people do not want us to use the hill. But is seems a very horrible and cowardly way of dealing with it and it could cause someone to have a very serious accident."

It is believed that the broken glass is aimed at puncturing the tyres of mountain bikes.

A few weeks ago a similar incident was reported on Grinshill in the north of the county and last year a bridleway at Steventon near Ludlow was blocked with barbed wire while at Much Wenlock, a bridleway at Muckley Cross was repeatedly sabotaged with broken glass, tins, branches and twine.

It is a criminal offence to block a right of way. Anyone with information should contact the police on 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org