A SUGGESTED ban on town centre cycling after a tragic accident has been opposed by councillors who warned against a knee-jerk reaction.

At a heated council meeting on Thursday (December 4), Darlington councillor Alan Coultas make an emotional plea for a ban on cycling in the centre on behalf of the family of Brian Coates.

Mr Coates, 74, was left with life-changing head injuries when he fell in Skinnergate, Darlington on September 5.

It is believed that the pensioner – who remains in hospital – may have fallen after being knocked or startled by a group of young boys on bikes, who were seen in the area by witnesses.

Mr Coates’ family are now calling for a ban on town centre cycling and have been backed by councillors including Cllr Coultas and Cllr Bryan Thistlethwaite.

At the council meeting, Cllr Coultas said: “Mr Coates had massive bleeding on the brain and is lucky to have survived.

“His family are devastated and their lives have completely changed.

“If those bikes had not been there, this accident would not have happened.

“The data shows no accidents until this one have been reported but one accident is too many and that data fails to show all the near misses.

“The fear is out there and it is preventing some people from shopping in the town centre.

“On behalf of Mr Coates’ family and all those fearful of shopping in Darlington because of the danger of being struck by a bike, I am calling on the council to begin the process of banning cycling in the town centre pedestrian heart.”

Councillor Dot Long was one of a number of councillors who opposed the ban. She said: “We allowed cycling in the pedestrian heart because we allowed for cyclists’ safety and didn’t want to push them onto the ring road.

“As a cyclist myself, this issue is about common sense and consideration for others – the figures demonstrate that the majority of cyclists do follow those rules and if it’s a crowded place, most will get off their bikes and walk – tackling those who don’t is a police matter.

“To go straight to a ban is ill-conceived. It’s very difficult to put that message across here in the context of this incident and I hope this doesn’t seem tasteless, but we haven’t banned cricket because of the dreadful thing that happened to Phillip Hughes.”