Flooded BMX club starts campaign to find new home

The chairman of Milton Keynes BMX Racing Club said "our members deserve to be able to ride somewhere safe"

A BMX club has said it needs a new home after the its track keeps flooding.

Milton Keynes BMX Racing Club has used the site on Tongwell Street for about 40 years.

The club received a grant from Sport England's Flood Relief Fund to repair damage caused by flooding in January after Storm Henk burst the banks of the River Great Ouse.

In May, repair work had to be abandoned after two days because of further flooding and the club has launched a campaign to find a new home.

The current track is located in the Pineham area of the city, close to Willen Lake.

Since October, the club has often been frequently closed due to issues with flooding.

Planned coaching sessions have been cancelled alongside a regional series race, which was expected to be attended by about 250 riders.

Repairs, which had cost about £8,000, restarted this week and it was planned the site would reopen later in June, six months after it was first closed.

Members of the club have previously achieved international success, which include a 10-year-old girl who finished seventh in the European Championships.

Chairman Paul Ritchie said: "With floods getting more frequent and more severe the sport won’t have a future in Milton Keynes if we stay at the current track."

In a post on Facebook he added: "Our plan is to relocate the track but this is an extremely high cost which we just don’t have [funds for].

"Our track and club needs a new home. Our members deserve to be able to ride somewhere safe all year around."