Cressage villagers complain their pavement is too tiny

A strip of pavement next to a major road is so narrow, it has been called a death trap by Shropshire villagers.

The "terrifying" walkway's width is just 23.6 inches (60cm) - about the same as three iPhone Max laid end to end, or a row of 10 cans of pop.

Elsewhere, some tiny routes have been exposed as hangovers from a time when couples were being discouraged from walking hand in hand.

But the rationale is unclear for the pithy path by the A458 in Cressage.

The government advises footpaths should be a minimum of two metres wide - more than three times the diminutive dimension of the pavement in the village.

Shropshire Council has been contacted for comment.

Villagers are calling on the local authority to include a public right of way in plans to build homes on a plot adjacent to the road.

Residents say they are unhappy the council's highways department has deemed the existing walkway usable.

They claim the path risks the lives of pedestrians and is impassable for wheelchair-users and those with pushchairs.

"It is terrifying trying to walk along that stretch," said Rob Davies, a parish councillor, who added the A458 Harley Road was a major route between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, heavily used by lorries.

The suggestion of a two-metre width from the Department for Transport comes in the Inclusive Mobility guide.

But Mr Davies said of the path where he lives: "This is 600mm, a wheelchair is 650mm, so science alone, without bringing [one] down here, shows you that a wheelchair isn't going to pass.

"I've got two little ones myself, five and seven, and I don't walk this road with them. We go all the way round the fields to get to the other side of the village and it's crazy."

The plot earmarked for development involves the site of the former Eagles Inn, for which seven new homes are planned. According to the planning application, the nearby footpath "has not been determined unsafe by the council highways department".

Mr Davies said that since the building was Grade II listed, it could not be pulled down, so the only solution to the pavement issue would be to create a new public route through the site.

"What we need is for the developers to take into account this unsafe access and just put a footpath in. We don't feel like we're asking much, really," he explained.

Joe Nugent from Brownshore Management, which is representing developer Eagle Mews Ltd, said he was open to meeting parish councillors to discuss options.

"The current planning application is being consulted with the local highways authority and their consultee response remains to be received," he said.

"This will identify the acceptability or requirement of the pedestrian routes."

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