Taxi driver repairs 'dangerous' Denbighshire pavement

Taxi driver Jozsef Vass has been warned about the risks of doing the work himself

A community that fears someone could be killed after a footpath fell into disrepair has taken matters into its own hands.

The path along the A525 at Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Denbighshire, is so overgrown and narrow, walkers have said they feel "vulnerable".

Taxi driver Jozsef Vass has been weeding the path himself, despite being warned of the risks.

Denbighshire council said it was going to "deal with" the pavement.

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Mr Vass, 44, from Ruthin, has spent his free time clearing the pathway to improve safety.

The father-of-four has been charting his progress online as he digs out the weeds and debris along a one-mile stretch of the pavement for a few hours each week.

"I'm only half way, but [I've done] the hardest part," he said. "There's a dip here and the pavement filled up even more to 60 or 70cm high which I had to shovel up."

Taxi driver Jozsef Vass has been working on the pavement a few hours a week to improve safety and to raise money for a charity in Kenya

Mr Vass was advised not to do the work himself as he would be liable for any damage or injury as a result of his efforts.

Asked if what he was doing was legal, he said: "It's a grey area; it's all on my own risk. When people asked me if they could join in I told them not to."

He said the council had a long list of priorities, so understood why they had not yet cleared the path.

"The council would have to close one lane, bring machines and it's a big project, but for me life is still going on and I can do the rest of the job," he said.

'No space for walkers or cyclists'

Chris Rawes said people could not walk or cycle safely, so they were using their cars

Other Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd residents say that while they are grateful for his efforts, many felt fixing the path was the council's responsibility.

Chris Rawes said: "Every day I walk down the pavement and it is literally a foot path - in places it's only a foot wide.

"When you've got trucks and buses and traffic and commuters going past you at 60mph or even quicker, it is really, really dangerous and you feel so exposed."

He said residents and the community council had been asking the local authority to address the problem for several years, and expected it would only get worse with more people moving into the area.

"Sixty-three new homes are being built in Llanfair DC at the moment, 63 new families all paying council tax and all wanting to go into Ruthin.

"We hear all about active travel, people should be out walking more, cycling more, we've got a footpath here for them to use but there's no space here for them so they're getting back in their cars to drive into town."

He added: "So hopefully something could be done in the near future before, I hate to say it, somebody gets killed."

Sian Jones says walkers are vulnerable to dangers from heavy lorries on the road

Sian Jones, who uses the path, said: "It used to be about 3ft (91cm) wide but now it's half that.

"Because of the traffic you feel very vulnerable, because there are heavy lorries passing and you can really get swept off your feet, literally."

Denbighshire council said work to improve the work was expected to be completed within six weeks.

A spokesman said: "Work will take place using a siding plough to deal with the overgrown parts of the footway, which will have the effect of widening of the footway.

"We aim to deliver this work within the next six weeks with traffic management in place during the work."

The spokesman said the council would then asses if further repairs were required, adding: "However, we unfortunately do not have sufficient funding available to resurface the entire footway."