DEMONISING all cyclists because of the careless and blatantly criminal actions of a few is just plain unfair.

But it has to be said that there is a problem in this city with a hard core of idiots on two wheels who give the majority a bad name.

A classic example of this is the callous individual who knocked down Oxford University student Ashleigh Parry last week, having shot a red light.

That is a regular occurrence with the mindless minority, as well as failing to stop at pelican and zebra crossings and riding without lights.

There are, of course, just as many fools on four wheels as there are on two.

But the difference is that cyclists who flout the law and put others at risk just reinforce the unfair stereotype that anyone who rides a bike could not give a fig for the highway code. All we can hope is that the police come down on them at every opportunity and that their fellow cyclists let them know exactly what they think of them too.

There is nothing like a bit of peer pressure to rein in the excesses of the reckless few.