State-of-the-art £750,000 all-weather mountain bike park in Northampton partially CLOSED due to waterlogged tracks

A state-of-the-art £750,000, all-weather specialist mountain bike park in Northampton has been partially closed due to waterlogged tracks.

Northampton Urban Bike Park, situated on the former Hardingstone Nine golf course, currently has half of its trails closed due to “excess wet weather”.

This newspaper visited the bike park on Friday (January 6) and saw one man using a spade to dig holes to drain the water off the tracks.

A sign on the entrance to the park reads: "We regret to inform you that the West Trails are closed until further notice. This is due to the persistent rainfall damaging the trails. East Park is open as usual but is waterlogged in parts so please take care. Please do not ride any closed trails. Northampton Bike Park apologises for any inconvenience caused."

The park was constructed by specialist firm On Track, which produces the UK’s “most popular bike parks”.

It cost around £750,000 to build with £250,000 of that coming from British Cycling's Places To Ride fund, which had a total pot of £15 million.

Cllr Adam Brown, cabinet member for housing, culture and leisure, responded saying: “Since it opened in September, the bike park has proven incredibly popular and has seen a huge amount of use.

“The recent excess wet weather has caused some areas of standing water which have softened and damaged the surface, meaning we have some drainage work to do.

“All projects of this type will experience teething issues and, in partnership with the contractor – On Track - we’ll work our way through them as they arise.

“While this work takes place, we need to temporarily close some of the trails, and we would ask that people avoid using them so they’re not damaged further.”