ANGRY cyclists suffered punctures after a hedge trim left a popular city cycle path covered in thorns as two riders stopped to sweep up so others did not become the next victims.
'Thorns and spikes' were left strewn all over the path in Malvern Road in Lower Wick, Worcester near the Powick roundabout as several cyclists suffered punctures, unaware of the hazard.
A primary school pupil on his own who was on his way to school had to pick up his bike because of the hazard on the path, designated as a temporary cycle path following the partial collapse of Powick Old Bridge last January.
Both missed the Bike Bus because of what happened. Both immediately went searching for brooms to sweep up the thorns so others would not suffer punctures.
They said: "Unfortunately, we were stopped very abruptly on the ‘new’ shared cycling and walking diversion at Powick by an onslaught of thorns.
"The hedge had been freshly cut, we think this morning as we rode the same route late last night, and was absolutely littered with thorns and spikes.
"We rode a little then walked our bikes beyond the debris only to find that we each had five or six thorns embedded in our tyres.
"Thankfully we were running tubeless so we didn’t suffer too badly but the cyclist immediately behind us was not so lucky. This guy was wheeling his e-bike with a completely flat rear tyre and thorns stuck in his front one.
"He was visibly frustrated and angry that his ride in and his travel back, which would have been especially difficult on a heavy e-bike, had been severely hampered by negligence."
Together they met another six or seven cyclists who had to make a decision on how they were going to navigate this section.
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They said: "Every rider we spoke to was appalled by the state of the path and the disruption to their journey."
Both believed a local landowner or contractor could have undertaken the work due to which parts of the hedge had been cut but that there was a 'duty' to clear up after the work.
They called Worcestershire Highways and knocked on doors to ask for brooms to clear the route. The other side of the road was said to be 'equally impassable'.
They got two brooms from the building company working nearby and a resident and spent two hours sweeping up the thorns.
Since it happened, they have argued for better communication between landowners and Highways.
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: "We are continuing to make enquiries to establish who cut this hedge and will then take appropriate action."
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