An East Hampshire beauty spot has been cordoned off by the MOD after selfish and “abusive” cyclists and walkers interfered with army training.

Part of Longmoor is once again out of bounds to the public as entry points to the military site between Liss Forest, Griggs Green and the A3 has been taped off.

The drastic move was made following two disappointing incidents around Sunday, January 19, in which walkers and cyclists illegally went off-trail during training exercises.

The trespassers disrupted troops while they were training and were abusive to rangers with bosses deciding to seal off the area in response.

The first incident reputedly involved walkers crossing an active training session and getting into a dispute with members of the Training Safety Team when approached.

There was also a dispute involving a mountain biker who became abusive with a ranger after overtaking their vehicle at speed on an unauthorised route.

The restrictions – which do not apply to the Longmoor Loop as the circumference path remains open – are expected to be lifted this Friday.

But the MOD is not afraid to cordon off the site again and has urged civilian visitors to respect the restrictions, soldiers and rangers.

“Members of the public are only allowed access to the Defence Training Estate when there is no military training taking place, as stipulated in the byelaws,” said a spokesperson for the MOD.

“At present there are multiple units training on Longmoor Ranges and therefore access is restricted.

“Recently there have been a number of incidents where unauthorised access by the public has put both them and military exercises at risk and it is important that safety is maintained.”

The public were denied access to Longmoor for long periods last year as the site was used to train Ukrainian troops as part of Operation Interflux.