Council blocks cycle path with barrier by mistake

The barrier was mistakenly installed in the middle of a cycle path

A council has removed a barrier that was installed in the middle of a cycle path by mistake.

Taunton Town Council put a bike barrier in place in Victoria Park on Friday, however, the contractor mistakenly placed it in the middle of the cycle path.

Local resident Dejan Branc said on social media: "This seems so dangerous, not visible in the dark and extremely unsafe near a busy school area."

Taunton Town Council said in a statement: "As soon as this was noted, the contractors were advised and they rectified the issue within two working days."

The barrier has now moved to make space for cyclists

Mr Branc said he cycles to work every day and has been "shocked" at the state of the cycle paths in Taunton due to debris and broken glass.

"As a proud Slovenian, I am from a land where cyclists have utmost priority on roads and thousands of kilometres of cycling routes all over the country," he said.

"And now this was done in Victoria Park overnight, in the middle of a dedicated cycle lane with markings."

The council said that originally, it had planned to install two barriers to slow cyclists down for their own safety and that of pedestrians when entering the park.

The approximate locations for the two barriers was marked on the tarmac, the council said.

"This was then changed to a single barrier, to be installed to separate and be in line with the foot and cycle paths and again, the location was marked on the tarmac," the council said.

"Unfortunately, our third-party contractor referenced the wrong marks and installed the single hoop."