A TEENAGE BMX rider was devastated to find the dirt jumps he and his friends spent weeks building had been flattened on council orders.

Tim Bracken, 14, said it took a month of hard shovel-work to construct the ramps, which are made from tightly packed soil piled over a log framework in woods near the Green Lane estate in Heathfield.

But Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council said it had received complaints about the “dangerous” jumps and intends to replace them.

But Tim was shocked. He spoke to The Argus yesterday after diggers had arrived.

“They’re destroying the ramps,” he said. “I’ve been coming up to these woods with my friends for two years and it’s taken us weeks to build them. Now, they’re just flattening them. I’m so frustrated.”

Tim had been campaigning to save the jumps and an online petition to protect them attracted almost 800 signatures.

He said he “gets moaned at for hanging round town, moaned at for riding the jumps and moaned at for sitting at home” – and wonders what else he is supposed to do.

“The jumps actually get us out of the house,” he said. Before they were razed, he said: “The ramps are what makes me happy and what helped me get through this pandemic – and there just gonna be destroyed like it’s nothing.”

A parish council spokeswoman said: “The Parish Council received a complaint regarding the jumps that the boys had built, they visited the site and having consulted with their insurance company are due to remove the jumps as they are considered dangerous, however at the same time they will be replacing the original jumps with safe earth jumps.

“The parish council are working with the community and the young people to ensure that there is a safe facility whilst at the same time ensuring that the close local neighbours aren’t impacted by an increased number of young people visiting the site.

“We are conscious that this is a very difficult time for young people as they are having so much time away from school.”

You can still sign Tim’s petition at: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/the_council_keep_the_jumps_at_the_green_lane_woods/