A close-up photo of the barbed wire stretched neck-height across a track in Co Wicklow in a bid to sabotage the route and cause serious injury to cyclists using it.

An MTB rider taking in a spin on tracks in Co Wicklow was lucky to escape serious injury when he came across barbed wire stretched neck height in his path.

The rider, who preferred not to be named, believes the wire was deliberately left across the track to sabotage it and cause serious injuries to riders using it.

He told stickybottle while the track he was riding was not an official route for MTB riders, he and others regularly used it and it would be known locally as a biking route.

He found the barbed wire and took these photos on the trail at Downs Hill, Willow Grove, near Delganey, last week.

“Absolutely raging at some evil bastard who decided to booby trap some local mountain bike trails on Downs Hill,” he said in a social media post on the day he discovered the sinister trap.

He added it was not the first time that traps had been set in the area but that this latest one was the most serious he had come across.

“It started with a few sticks etc and has escalated to a point where (last week) I narrowly missed barbed wire strung across the track at neck height at a jump.

“If anyone knows anything please report it to the Gardai as this person is going to really hurt someone.”

Rocks also laid across the track in a bid to sabotage it.

A rider holds up the wire; this could have done serious damage, especially if a cyclist coming fast down the trail didn’t spot it.