A GROUP of bike-mad youngsters have been given a fast track to fun after volunteers and local businesses clubbed together to turn part of a playing field into a BMX dirt course.

Lisa Dandy, secretary of Cradley Sports Club, near Malvern, said the track was created after villagers asked Cradley Parish Council to provide something for children when it was considering what to do with the bottom end of the playing fields, in Chapel Lane.

Simon Davies, who is a parish councillor and a coach at the sports club, came up with the idea of a dirt track and enlisted the help of his father Ron and fellow residents – Mark Philpotts, Sid Poppleton and Tom Gladwyn, to make it a reality.

They were supported by local businesses Pencroft, Prossers, Bromyard Tool Hire and Watsons Fuels, who all donated their time and equipment free of charge.

Mrs Dandy said the track was already proving a big hit. “It has gone down really well. Only a day after completion I counted between 10 and 15 children, all aged between six and 15, riding round it and people have even been coming from Ledbury to use it,” she said.

“The way everyone has pulled together to make this happen has been fantastic.”