Closure of Banbury station ticket office would be a huge step backwards. And Motocross is a good way of keeping kids off the streets - Letters

Banbury Active Travel Supporters is a group of local people based in Banbury interested in making our public thoroughfares safer and more accessible for all Active Travellers (cyclists, walkers and people needing to use wheelchairs or other mobility aids).

As we all use our fossil-fuel burning vehicles less we can all benefit from less air and noise pollution and make Banbury a better, safer, healthier and friendlier place to live and work.

Many of our members are very regular rail users. I myself travel all over the place by train and have used Banbury station for over 30 years. I always use the ticket office and the service there is outstanding. The staff always go above and beyond to help people get the right tickets and I’ve often noticed that they are brilliant in explaining things to people.

Many people need help with planning journeys. Some people just cannot cope with ticket machines. Not everyone can use a smartphone or the internet to buy a ticket.

I think the closure of Banbury ticket office would be a huge step backwards, making life more difficult for the many who have to travel by train and putting off those who have a choice. At a time when it is vital to encourage people to use public transport more and drive less, we should be making train travel easier, not harder.

Paul Bonsor, Banbury Active Travel Supporters.

Motocross

I’m writing to you in regards to the Wroxton motocross track that has been the subject of a few stories recently. I’d just like to shed some light on the sport of motocross, and discredit general assumptions made with regards to off-road motorcycles.

The sport of Motocross is a great family sport where competitors compete from the age of six-years-old. Families get together on a weekend at facilities such as Wroxton and spend their time in and around their caravans and campervans, interacting with each other socially, having barbecues and enjoying each other's company, just as you would on a ‘normal’ holiday campsite.

There’s a really friendly atmosphere and the children absolutely love socialising with each other. You make friends from all around the local area and further afield. The actual racing became a by-product at local events, such as were held at Wroxton.

The Wroxton facility never hosted a British Championship level event and is far from one of the biggest venues in Europe as was previously posted. It was just a regional venue where families gathered on a weekend to participate in a sport that they love.

There’s a misconception that motocross riders, or ‘off-road bikers’, are a pest on society. This is due to the number of what I can only describe as cretins that use the public highways as a playground, doing wheelies and other anti-social acts. These types of people, are generally riding stolen bikes, ironically stolen from the real motocross communities and I can assure you they are despised by all.

With a lot of venues going the way of Wroxton in recent years, soon there will be no areas for motocross families to enjoy their sport. It is a good way of keeping youngsters ‘off the streets’, helps them socialise, gives them discipline, keeps them fit, helps to bond with parents during the week preparing bikes together.

Before just sitting in the garden on a Sunday morning drinking a cup of tea and complaining about the slight background noise a few weekends of the year, I wish people would go and visit these tracks and go and see all the happy little children, running round with smiles on their faces and see first hand the skills that these children have from a very young age. Motocross isn’t a hooligan driven society, it’s a family orientated community that’s dying sadly.

Stuart Summers, by e-mail.