YORK Racecourse officials say they strongly contest some of the comments made by the Crown Prosecution Service, and have also expressed their surprise and frustration.

The racecourse said in a statement their first thoughts remained for the family and friends of Ruby Milnes, to whom it offered sincere condolences. It said officials could “only begin to imagine the pain and heartache of the last three years”.

It said an important aspect of the CPS statement was that it confirmed no charges would be brought by it.

But it said: “We strongly contest some of the comments made elsewhere in the statement, and struggle to comprehend others. We are most surprised as, in places, we consider it wrong.

“We are perplexed as to why the statement appears to ignore material factors beyond the racecourse’s control.”

It said officials would rather leave the consideration to the coroner and other appropriate bodies but, as the racecourse had been singled out for criticism, it felt compelled to make several points, including:

• The accident took place on property neither owned nor controlled by the racecourse, and involved a vehicle owned and driven by a third party.

• The access road had existed for more than 100 years as a route for racecourse deliveries, with no previous incidents recorded and, to permit such access, the gate was open.

• The access road was in existence when the Sustrans cycle path was installed on council land 19 years ago, at which time Sustrans designed and constructed a barrier/fence chicane as a forced dismount barrier at the junction, with the intention being for cyclists to give way to vehicles.

“Pictures taken at the time of the accident clearly show that this barrier was incomplete, with the fence section leaning redundantly against a nearby post,” it said.

“Therefore the barrier was ineffective, being easy to bypass. So we fail to reconcile the CPS statement that the cycle path was “free from any defect that could have contributed to the accident”.

It said responsibility for path maintenance and upkeep rested with Sustrans, which provided a ranger for the task.

A hedge alongside the path which had grown over the years and might have obscured sightlines between the vehicle and cyclist was neither under the racecourse’s control nor on its land, nor has it ever been responsible for its maintenance.

“We have made these points repeatedly to the relevant authorities and are frustrated that they are not acknowledged in the CPS press statement.”

After the accident, the racecourse took an active role in ensuring the defective dismount barrier was reinstalled by Sustrans and the hedge was cut back with a wooden fence installed by the council, so improving sightlines and the Racecourse installed additional warning signs on the access road.

It said the racecourse would continue to co-operate and engage with the relevant authorities to ensure any lessons were learnt by all parties from the tragic accident and due process was followed.