A trip down memory lane turned to trauma when Malcolm Cupis went for a walk in Erlestoke Woods at the weekend.

Mr Cupis took his wife Caroline and their three dogs to the beauty spot where, as a teenager, he used to walk with his late mother 30 years ago, only to be surrounded by the revving engines of numerous motorcross bikes.

Mr Cupis, a former editor of the Melksham News, said: “As soon as we arrived an MoD range warden Hilux appeared and we were told to be careful because there were illegal vehicles using the pathways. As we were talking, two motocross bikes appeared and the warden disappeared off after them.

“The walk was a total disaster. The woods were full of bikes and a couple of Land Rovers and we spent the whole time dodging them.

“They passed close by us on several occasions, not bothering to slow down or show us any consideration.”

Mr Cupis’s wife took some video footage of the bikers and, in one moment, a biker came within an ace of crashing into the warden’s vehicle.

But Mr Cupis has good reason to know the safety and legality of off-roading. He said: “I have an ex-Army Land Rover and I enjoy a bit of green laning. I know there are plenty of legal byways open within a few miles of Erlestoke where you can fill your boots.”

The bikes Mr Cupis encountered were not street legal. They had no number plates, were not taxed and were not insured.

Don Oakley, chairman of Wiltshire Trail Riders Fellowship, was shown the video clips by Mr Cupis and said his organisation deplored the behaviour of the off-roaders. He said: “It is exactly the sort of action that we want to see eradicated. Our members are road legal on trail bikes and ride to a code of behaviour.”

Stan Jonik, chairman of Erlestoke Parish Council, said there had been increasing activity in the woods as a result of publicity given to the mountain bike races held there.

He said: “We support these events but they have their drawbacks. The parish council reports any illegal activity on the footpaths through the woods to the Ministry of Defence police.”