A NEWLY-built BMX track in Teesside has been closed until further notice after it was declared dangerous.

And parts of the course are said to be so unsafe they need to be demolished.

The track at Eston Recreation Ground has had to be repaired four times due to subsidence and the council has closed it until it can be repaired.

Councillor Olwyn Peters, Redcar & Cleveland’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, said this year’s freak weather and deluge of rain had led to the problems at the track, which was reported to have cost £90,000 to build.

She said: “It is closed at the moment. We have worked with the contractors Wilmott Dixon and it was deemed to be dangerous as it was. We decided to fence it off and close it. The weather has been a big factor in this. There was flooding which severely hampered the completion of the track and to be honest it was an uphill battle to get it finished.

“Not all the £90,000 has been spent yet. At this stage we can only decide what is going to happen when we know what the weather is going to do.”

She said there was still some money left out of the £90,000 to repair the track – but she could not give a schedule on it reopening. It could be as late as next summer.

But Liberal Democrat councillors demanded to know when the track would be repaired.

Leisure spokesman councillor Josh Mason said the director of specialist bike designers Biketrack had said parts of the course were so dangerous they needed demolishing altogether.

He said: “A BMX track is a great facility for young people. But I am very concerned it cannot be used due to design problems.

“Local people have a right to know why the council has handled this so badly.

“This is another example of the Labour council not getting the basics right, and wasting public money in the process.”

Coun Peters said the BMX track was never supposed to be a professional track, more an area for local youngsters to have fun on their bikes.

Soil for the BMX track came from soil dug up at the site of the new £31m “Redcar Heart”, a new leisure and civic centre which is being built by Willmott Dixon.