I refer to the recent article about the elderly gentleman who was injured by a young man riding a bicycle along the Weymouth Seafront.

I have the utmost sympathy for the elderly gentlemen.

However, I think that the demand for the authorities to take a more robust approach towards people riding along the seafront and issuing on-the-spot fines is a bit heavy-handed.

The first thing we need to do is look at the problem.

Weymouth is lucky enough to have The Front skate park at the Greenhill end of the seafront which is used by the local youth community. If they do not use the seafront as a means of returning to the town centre they have to negotiate the very busy main road, mixing with cars, buses and articulated lorries because there is no cycle path connecting that end of the seafront to the town centre.

I am a very keen cyclist I ride both a road bike and a mountain bike and clock up many miles a year.

I must admit I find riding the stretch of road from the Front Skate Park to the bandstand daunting, especially during peak times, because there are a number of drivers who just see cyclists as a pain.

Even when you get into the bus lane you become an inconvenience to the authorised users of that lane.

I have two young children who are not confident enough to ride on the main road yet so I ask just one simple question: how are they supposed to get into town on their bikes without having to negotiate the same peril?

Surely the seafront is wide enough to be shared by cyclist and pedestrians alike, it just has to be marked accordingly, like most of the dual function cycle/pedestrian paths in the area.

Surely if this had been the case the accident that occurred with the elderly gentlemen may not have happened.

There is no need to be heavy-handed, just sensible.

NAME SUPPLIED, Coombe Avenue, Lodmoor, Weymouth