A former mayor has launched an attack on reckless cyclists.

Bob Cristofoli, ex-leader of Brighton Council, said people who rode through traffic lights or on pavements were criminals and should be prosecuted.

Mr Cristofoli was speaking at a Brighton and Hove City Council community safety forum, on which he represents the city's mediation service.

He said: "Police don't seem to consider them criminals but they are. So many cyclists believe traffic lights aren't for them and some get away with murder.

"There have been accidents in the past but they never appear in the statistics."

Mr Cristofoli asked police officers on the forum whether it would be possible to compile figures on the number of offences committed by people on bikes.

He said: "Are they ever likely to be included in the statistics or don't they come into criminal law? I appreciate that police have much more important things to worry about than cyclists going through lights and cycling on pavements but they seem to have a licence to do what they like. If they are prosecuted it might curb them."

Inspector Bill Whitehead, of Sussex Police, said: "There is potential to look into it but we concentrate on areas of crime that fit into the police strategy."