Police in Belfast have appealed for information after blades similar to those used in Stanley knives were found scattered on a cycle route in the city.
One of the blades caused a deep cut in the rear tyre of the bike belonging to the cyclist who reported the presence of the blades to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), reports the Belfast Telegraph.
The blades were discovered on a cycle lane on the Cregagh Road in the south east of the city on Saturday afternoon at around 3.45pm.
Sergeant Tom Donnelly of the PSNI described putting the blades on the cycle path as an "incredibly dangerous thing to do.”
He said: "Whoever was responsible could have caused serious injury or worse to anyone using the path had this not been found by a member of the public, who themselves were extremely lucky to avoid being badly hurt.
“I would like to commend this member of the public for their vigilance in reporting this matter to police,” he continued.
"I would appeal to anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area at any time, or who can provide any information as to whoever carried out this reckless act, to contact police on 101 quoting reference CCS 1160 of 20/07/19.
"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.