Coronavirus: Former parish councillor and retired teacher 'block woodland cycle path' with rocks and branches

A retired teacher and former parish councillor have been spoken to by police after admitting building blockades to stop cyclists biking through a woodland during the coronavirus lockdown.

Wendy McLachlan and Anna Hacket-Pain, both 62, were filmed by 17-year-old Nathan Cartwright saying they had laid rocks and branches across the trail after he was almost upended by them.

The pair told the teenage cyclist he should not be there because of Covid-19 restrictions.

But, despite remaining polite throughout the exchange, the teenager later pointed out that he was only a mile from home, taking his allocated allowance of exercise and that, in fact, the two women appeared to have broken the law by being together at the beauty spot.

"I was pretty lost for words at the time," he told The Independent. "I couldnt really get my head round that these two apparently respectable women had built something that could really badly injure someone. If a cyclist hits that at full speed, because it's such a sheer drop, you could be looking at a broken neck."

The incident took place on Sunday in the village of Preston-under-Scar in North Yorkshire but it went viral this week after Nathan posted his head camera footage on social media.

In it, the youngster can be heard asking the women if they put the branches there to stop him. One brazenly replies: “Yes we did.”

They tell him he is trespassing – despite the fact he has permission to be there – and could end up in jail. He declines to argue the point and calmly asks both women if they had taken a shovel which he had brought to clear the trail.

They tell him they have thrown it into the undergrowth but don’t say where. “That’s fine,” he says as he lays his bike to the ground to start searching.

"I've been brought up to be polite to old ladies," he said. "So I wasn't going to start arguing with them."

North Yorkshire Police have now confirmed they sent two uniformed officers to speak to Ms McLachlan and Ms Hacket-Pain.

The force warned it was dangerous to lay obstacles which could injure cyclists or damage their bikes. Should anyone have been hurt by the obstructions, it was pointed out, the two women could have faced criminal charges.

Nathan, the son of an engineer and NHS nurse, told The Daily Mail: “I remained calm to try to sort the situation out.”

Ms Hacket-Pain confirmed police had spoken to her and said the matter was “being dealt with through the appropriate channels”.

Asked about the fact she appeared to have broken lockdown rules herself by being with a friend, she told the Mail: “Wendy and I met coincidentally in the woods that day – we were socially distancing.”

Ms McLachlan said: “I don’t think that is something I want to comment on, thank you.”