Lighting appears on 'path to nowhere' in North Hykeham

22 February 2018

Street lights have been installed along a "path to nowhere" leaving residents in a Lincolnshire town bemused.

Persimmon Homes laid the path in North Hykeham two years ago close to a new development, and has recently installed several lights along it.

The firm said the path, which comes to an abrupt end in a field, was required to comply with a planning application, and further development may take place.

Locals were puzzled by the purpose of the path which has no obvious use.

'Grand plan'

One woman said: "It's lovely to walk on but it doesn't go anywhere."

Another resident joked: "Call me old-fashioned but I thought it would have carried on."

Lee Baxter, who regularly walks his dogs close by, said the "path to nowhere" was first put down about two years ago, and he thought houses would be built nearby.

But he said no-one seemed to know what the path was actually for and the introduction of street lights was "bizarre".

Residents said the lights had been installed in the past two weeks.

In a statement, Simon Usher, managing director at Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, said: "We acquired the land with outline planning consent in place which required us to run a lit footpath across the field on the east side of Station Road only as far as the boundary."

He said the land would be used in the future for a mixed development of housing, retail, commercial and a football pitch.

"There are currently no public rights over this path. Once it is completed, it will be handed over to the Highways Authority," he added.

The path runs from the town's railway station before turning across a field, ending at a muddy track leading to an existing development.