'Terrible' Whittington footpath next to M5 causing falls

The path, which connects residents between the old Whittington and new Whittington Walk housing estates, is crumbling, muddy and full of puddles despite being less than a few years old. 

The path, running adjacent to the M5, was designed to give hundreds of residents easy access to the village of Whittington and its amenities - but many are being put off using it due to the state it is in.

PATH: Steve Brooker on the path (Image: Sam Greenway/Newsquest)

Steve Brooker, chairman of Whittington Parish Council, said: "The construction was some form of hard-core that was yellow in appearance  - the locals named it the 'Yellow Brick Road'. 

"The surface, from the outset, was unsuitable, leaving pedestrians and cyclists with yellow mud, particularly during or after wet weather, on their shoes, clothes and pushchairs.

"With time, the ‘yellow’ in the main has disappeared but the mud is still there, making the footpath at best unsuitable and at worse, not usable.

PATH: Steve Brooker who is criticising the poor state of a Whittington footpath (Image: Sam Greenway/Newsquest)"Residents have complained to parish councillors and we have raised it with county highways and the developers (Persimmon Homes).

"The response has been that it is acceptable and there are not any plans to improve or upgrade this path.

"There is the talk about active travel but cyclists can't use it as mud sticks on the bike. With dog walkers, the dogs bring the mud into the house. 

BRIDLEWAY: The path nicknamed 'Yellow Brick Road' (Image: Sam Greenway/Newsquest)

"Step into St Peter's and Warndon and there walkers and cyclists can find foot and cycleways with tarmacadam surfaces, signs and safety barriers.

"Why can this not be mirrored across the county if the intention of promoting ‘active travel’ is genuine?"

PATH: Whittington Walk path (Image: Sam Greenway/Newsquest)

When a reporter went to the path with Mr Brooker on Monday (February 26), the chairman said it was the driest it had been recently and it gets much worse in wet weather.

A resident near the footpath said it had been in a "terrible" state and put them off using it.

Another said: "It is horrendous. It is really boggy.

"I've fallen over, our neighbour has also fallen over in it.

"It is disgusting the state of it.

"The lighting of it is bad as well at night, all you have is the lights from the motorway. 

"They could have done it really nice with trees."

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council Highways said: "We have been liaising with both the local county councillor for the area and the developer, Persimmon, about concerns raised with us regarding drainage of this rural public right of way.

"Once the drainage issues have been fully addressed we will assess the condition of the path.”

A Persimmon spokesperson added: "We have worked with the council in order to develop the pathways at our development to the specifications outlined in our planning permission.

"These paths have now been handed over to the council for maintenance.

"The open space surrounding these paths is managed by the Persimmon team.

"Any matters surrounding drainage are currently being addressed by us and will be resolved in the coming weeks."