VIOLENT civil disturbances and other serious contemporary crimes which absorb police resources have been accompanied by comparatively minor offences which have arisen from the sad disappearance of bobbies on the beat.

Pavement-cycling is a present-day case in point.

The quiet, but excitable characters, any likely age from 12 to 18, are never happier than when they are zooming at top-speed without giving any warning past any unsuspecting person with a back to them.

The cyclists may realise that they risk striking an unsuspecting pedestrian, but the simpletons seem to ignore the possibility that if they collide with someone, the chances are they will be pitched into the road where they may be hit by a passing vehicle.

During busier periods when pavements can be at least partially crowded, the two-wheelers are often still determined to pursue this practice, winding their way through any gaps, frequently with two or three impatient followers endeavouring to catch up.

Now, modern bikes are not exactly cheap, and I would have thought that parents would point out to their loved ones the dangers of this and the importance, as well as showing a spot of common sense, of using brakes and traditional cycle-bells.

D JEPSON (Mr), Bracken Close, Feniscowles, Blackburn.