A SENIOR police officer has acknowledged an increasing number of concerns from older people about inconsiderate cyclists riding through a busy town centre.

An accident that left a 74-year-old man with a brain injury after he fell in Darlington’s Skinnergate, possibly having been knocked or startled by boys on bikes, has led to a number of readers contacting The Darlington and Stockton Times with their own worries about the issue.

Residents have reported a number of near misses, with some saying they are scared to walk around Darlington town centre for fear of being knocked down by a bike.

Calls have been made for Durham Police and Darlington Borough Council to act to prevent inconsiderate cyclists riding in pedestrian areas.

One reader said she had contacted Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham, Ron Hogg, after experiencing a number of “close shaves” with cyclists riding too fast on pavements.

Elsie Allinson also wrote about her experience, saying: “In July when I was driving out of the car park behind High Row turning right on to the one-way street (Skinnergate).

“I was slowly pulling out after checking there were no cycles coming from the left but was suddenly confronted by a young teenage boy doing a wheelie with no hands coming down the one way street the wrong way.

“This so alarmed me as he was not in control that I swerved slightly and hit a large metal bollard doing £1000 worth of damage to my car.”

Inspector Mick Button, from Darlington Police, said it was “not unheard of” to get complaints across the whole town about inconsiderate cyclists but acknowledged that people would be less likely to report near misses.

He added: “The problem we have is that there are designated cycle areas in the town centre – it’s a complicated area and there are some routes in the pedestrian area that are amenable to cyclists.

“At the same time, we do know that some older people are wary of the cyclists and quite rightly.

“The problems with cyclists do come in fits and starts and I’d like to reassure people that when we do get told about issues we do clamp down.

“In particular, if we see lads doing wheelies or riding stupidly, people can rest assured that we will stop them and deal with them.

“It’s about getting a balance, there are people who ride sensibly to commute into town but we don’t want people scared to go about their business.”

Inspector Button urged anyone who has a near miss with a bike anywhere in the town to report it to police on the non-emergency 101 number so that officers could build up a picture of incidents and act.

Darlington Borough Council has previously said that enforcement action against cyclists is a matter for Durham Police but that its Code of Conduct for the Pedestrian Heart of the town centre specifically states that cyclists should dismount in pedestrian areas.