MOTORCYCLE enthusiasts have reached a temporary agreement with nature groups over the use of a Portland quarry.

Scrambler fans had reached

loggerheads with locals and the police about using Kingbarrow quarry behind Portland Heights Hotel.

Those against the sport claimed young people using the area were a nuisance, while supporters of the newly-formed Portland Motorcycle Club said not all youths should be tarred with the same brush.

Around 100 people attended a meeting last night to discuss the issues, which has resulted in the scramblers being able to use part of the quarry while they search for a new site while the rest - already a Site of Special Scientific Interest - will become a nature reserve when handed over to the Dorset Wildlife Trust by current owners Hansons.

Chairman of the motorcycle club Mike Laming, 40, from Wakeham, said: "The meeting was very well attended and got a bit lively at one point, but most of the people there supported of the bikers.

"Representatives from English Nature and Dorset Wildlife Trust came along to talk about Sites of Special Scientific Interest so our members could better understand what it involved.

"The area we need to practise is only about a third or a quarter of the quarry. I don't know how many people go there on a weekend but I'd say most of those who attended the meeting had used the quarry at some point. We don't want to cause trouble with anyone on the island, we just want something for the children to do and somewhere for them to practise a sport they love."

Mr Laming, whose sons Grant, 13, and 12-year-old Niall ride, said the club members will now have to sit down and look for somewhere else to ride, away from cliff edges and homes.

Local councillors also went along to the meeting but representatives from the police were unable to attend.

Portland councillor Les Ames said: "I have sympathy for the young people trying to find somewhere to ride and I came out of the meeting confident that we had made the first step towards finding a compromise."

Police have said they plan to clamp down on youths causing havoc on the island and traffic officers using off-road bikes have been introduced to catch offenders and confiscate motorcycles.

The disused Kingbarrow quarry has been popular with bikers for 30 years. There was a formal agreement to use the site for scramblers in the 1980s but this lapsed. The quarry has been informally used by bikers ever since and the site owners Hansons have never objected.