The Jump Gulley, or Sandy Cutting, at the Swinley Forest trail centre is due to be shut with immediate effect.

The decision came from the Crown Estate, that manages Swinley, following its latest inspection of the trail. The Swinley Trail Team posted on Facebook today that the Gulley is responsible for 40 per cent of all reported accidents in the forest, a situation it described as “not sustainable or defendable for The Crown Estate”.

The Jump Gulley could be found off the red cross country route. It was described as a freeride zone on the Swinley trail map and was graded as an Orange, or extreme. The Gulley was formed of a short series of jumps and drops that were popular with riders.

How to jump with Olly Wilkins

The Swinley Trail Team said: “We understand that there are many mountain bikers who will be very upset by this decision and we would like to remind them that at the end of the day, The Crown Estate have a responsibility to all users of their land and it would be irresponsible to keep a feature known to be a high cause of incidents open.”

The closure follows the death of Mark Kinston on the Red 25 section at Swinley on August 25 this year. The Trail Team has invited mountain bikers to contact the Crown Estate directly if they wish to discuss the closure further.