Motorists who take out their frustrations by shouting and sounding their horns at cyclists can actually endanger the lives of bike users, it is claimed.

Margaret Meadows White and her husband Spencer, who both own bikes as well as a car, have been verbally abused by drivers reduced to road rage after being held up in Abingdon's congested town centre streets.

Margaret, 59, of Picklers Hill, Abingdon, said: "It is becoming much more of a problem than it used to be.

"I've been shouted at twice recently, through no fault of my own. A lot of Abingdon's town centre streets are quite narrow and drivers seem to get angry if they can't pass by easily and are held up.

"Apart from anything else, it is dangerous to shout at a cyclist because it inevitably makes you wobble.

"You should treat cyclists rather like you do horse riders, especially with regards to not 'tooting' them."

She said that verbal abuse from drivers would put people off cycling at a time when they are being encouraged to ditch the car for greener transport.

"I have been cycling for 55 years and the problem is worse now than I've ever known it before," she added. "Part of the problem is there is simply more traffic around these days."

She said that she has even been shouted at by someone she actually knew, but who didn't realise it was her until it was too late. Margaret, churchwarden at Christ Church in Abingdon, has been tooted and shouted at, and the couple have cyclist friends who have also been the target for abuse in the town centre.

Consultants are currently looking at a number of different plans to reduce Abingdon's traffic problems, as part of the town's Integrated Transport Study.

A cycle route linking Abingdon town centre with Oxford and Didcot is also planned.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.