A new 1.5km trail is planned at the Kielder Water and Forest Park in Northumberland.

Kielder Trail Reavers, the grassroots group of local mountain bike fans who helped kickstart the off-road revolution in the 62,000 hectare park, want to build the trail at Capon Hassock on the popular Lonesome Pine route, replacing a fire road with a purpose built section of track.

But the Reavers, who are celebrating their fifth anniversary, need more volunteers to get the project off the ground and are hosting an open day on November 20 at Kielder Castle, kicking off at 10am. Refreshments will be provided and volunteers should come in outdoor clothing, with stout footwear and gloves if they want to get trail building right away.

Group chairman Chris Trait said: “The Lonesome Pine Trail will benefit from developments like Capon Hassock to improve the amount of single track.

“But it’s a big project and more volunteers are needed if we are to complete work within 18 months, which is our aim.

“Since we opened the first mountain bike training loop near Kielder Castle in 2005 things have moved on massively thanks to funding from the Kielder Partnership. Our aim is to add hand-made features and refine the existing trails.”

Forestry Commission recreation, tourism and communities manager Alex MacLennan added: “What has been achieved is testament to the hard work of volunteers, Forestry Commission staff, contractors and wider partners.

“We are building mountain bike trails in some of the most difficult ground conditions in the UK and at one point a seven tonne excavator was nearly lost in deep peat.

“But we are seeing success in terms of more cycling visitors and high profile events being attracted to Kielder Water and Forest Park. That means a boost to local businesses all year round.”

For more information on the trail building open day, head to www.kieldertrailreavers.com