EVESHAM is being taken over by "maniac cyclists", a town councillor claimed this week.

Cllr Roma Kirke told a meeting of the planning committee on Monday that walking on the town's pavements was becoming increasingly hazardous because of the number of cyclists who refuse to use the roads.

"It is becoming a very real danger to everyone," she said. "It is getting worse every day."

She asked Insp Steve Brooker, who is in charge of policing in the town, whether action was being taken against cyclists who use the footpath.

Insp Brooker said he had been asked a similar question at another forum.

"I looked up the figures, expecting to see two or three, and was surprised to find that around 35 cyclists had either been issued with fixed penalty tickets or prosecuted for this type of offence," he said.

"Until that point I had no idea it was as prevalent as this," he said.