COUNCIL efforts to deal with a blocked path in Eastburn have been blasted by a parishioner.

Leslie Howard believes workmen should have pruned an overgrown hedge on a snicket linking the main road and pensioner bungalows.

But he said that instead they had widened the path so that people had more space to get round the rampant growth.

The 74-year-old Steeton man said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw that instead of cutting the bush back they’d put more tarmac down.

“It’s a complete waste of money. I reckon I could have cut the hedge back in half an hour.

“How long does it take to dig out the grass, put hard-core down and lay a path?”

Mr Howard keeps fit by walking between the Steeton and Eastburn and often walks along the path.

The path begins on Main Road, on the Steeton side of Eastburn opposite a footpath entrance to the Airedale Hospital nurses’ flats.

The path runs up the hill towards four pensioner bungalows, on land bordered by Harewood Avenue and Vincent Avenue.

Mr Howard said that originally there were steps up the hill, but several years ago Bradford Council replaced the steps with a ramp to provide wheelchair access to the bungalows.

He said he had first reported the overgrown hedge a few years ago and that time workmen had cut it back.

He added: “The path was very wide, but this bush started growing and growing until it went over most of the path.

“It’s now only six inches wide. You have to walk on the grass verge to get round. I’m fairly fit but I have to step on the grass.

“I’ve seen kids on their bikes come straight down from the path to the grass then back to the path, which is dangerous if they slip.”

Mr Howard said the new tarmac extension did not actually solve the problem because workmen had only dealt with part of the path.

He added: “They should come back and cut the hedge back all the way up the path or remove it.”