Anger over unsafe Leicestershire park path closed for nine months

The path has been closed since late January

A dispute which has shut the main path into a village park for months has been criticised by residents.

The route into Stafford Orchard Park in Quorn, near Loughborough, has been closed since January due to a damaged wall being declared unsafe.

The county council closed the path but said repairs to the wall itself were the responsibility of the house behind.

But Sue Griffiths, who lives in the village said the path was important and the stand-off was "ridiculous".

The county council says it has been trying to identify the wall's owner

Ms Griffiths told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they had been "fobbed off" by Leicestershire County Council for nine months.

"It's not just any old footpath that the odd dog walker uses from time to time, it's a real public thoroughfare that everybody who goes to the centre of Quorn uses.

"It's a very, very important path, you used to see people walking across it all the time. It's a ridiculous situation," she said.

A county council spokesperson said: "The responsibility for repairing the wall lies with its owner rather than the council.

"Our initial investigations have shown a history of changes to ownership and we are continuing to work to identify who is responsible for the repairs to the wall.

"When ownership can be confirmed we can serve legal notice for the wall repairs to be carried out."