Vandals scatter tacks at charity cycle run

A CHARITY cycling event was ‘sabotaged’ by vandals who left tacks on the route at the weekend.

Hundreds of people taking part in Pedal for Scotland reported punctured tyres as a result of vandalism.

Police who are investigating the incident said the motive was unclear, but said they had not ruled out the possibility that the attack was carried out by protesters angry at road closures.

Around 8,000 people, including families with children, took part in the event along a 45-mile route between Glasgow and Edinburgh on Sunday which saw diversions in place on 48 road junctions.

The closures sparked fury from residents on social media who complained of feeling like ‘prisoners’ in their homes during the six-hour event.

Metal tacks were found in the Whitecross area of Falkirk just after 1pm and police said they had also been made aware of a similar incident in and around Linlithgow, West Lothian.

It’s not the first time Pedal for Scotland has been disrupted. In 2015, tacks were also thrown on the route between Limerigg and Avonbridge in Stirlingshire.

And it comes just a week after the Tour O’ the Borders cycle event around Peebles in Tweeddale was hijacked by protesting farmers wielding wood sticks. They stopped participants and complained that the event disrupted their annual harvest.

A police spokesman said: ‘We are investigating following a report of metal tacks on the road in Whitecross during a Pedal for Scotland event.

‘A number of bikes were damaged, however no cyclists were injured. There were also reports of tacks being placed on the road in and around Linlithgow.’

Cyclists took to social media to vent their anger at the weekend disruption, labelling the vandals ‘morons’.

A spokesman for event organisers Cycling Scotland said: ‘We regret that the action of an idiotic individual or group of people has caused problems for event participants and risked serious injury to people.

‘We would ask anyone with information about who committed this crime to report it to Police Scotland.’