COUNCIL officials have “kicked down the road” repairs to the footpath between Cardross and Helensburgh, a councillor has said.

A stretch of the footpath on the A814, between Cardross and Geilston Garden, has been the subject of recent improvements by Argyll and Bute Council.

But Councillor Paul Kennedy remarked on the state of the rest of the footpath, and said that the process was now delayed until the winter.

A council officer said that he would speak to colleagues to look to accelerate the repairs to the remainder of the path.

The discussion took place at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday, September 10.

Councillor Kennedy said: “I reported a year and a half ago that the footpath from Cardross through to Helensburgh, particularly up to the crematorium, was in a bad state of repair.

“You did do halfway at first, but the second half has not been done. It has been kicked down the road, with officers saying that workers are elsewhere.

“I got a note a few weeks ago to say that it is being kicked down the road again until winter. I have had constituents saying they have had to go single file from the crematorium to Helensburgh, because it really is in a bad way.

“Can anything be done to bring forward these works, and also to look at making the stretch from the crematorium to Helensburgh a better state?

“There are bushes growing at the side of the pavement, and they are pushing right into the path, making it a single file route where vans and lorries are passing right in front of your face.”

John Blake, the council’s head of fleet, waste and transport, responded: “The work programme is in place and I will speak to the relevant officer on whether the programme can be adjusted to bring that forward.”