A CYCLIST has warned it is only a matter of time before somebody is seriously injured on a cycle path plagued by an overgrown hedgerow on a blind bend.

Dennis Collins, 61, cycles twice-a-week along Colne Bank Avenue, where there is a dedicated cycle path, towards Colchester North Station. 

Despite being familiar with the route, he now fears an overgrown hedgerow on a blind bend at Colne Bank Roundabout is seeing him – and pedestrians – regularly dice with death.

Mr Collins, of Park Avenue, Colchester, says the problem has been exacerbated by the fact that logging the fault with Essex Highways involves using an unwieldy webpage.

Filing a complaint using an emergency number provided by County Hall has proved equally difficult, according to the keen biker. 

He said: “I’ve tried to report this with ECC using their website for reporting highway faults, but the website is useless – it’s so, so clunky and difficult to use, but even then I managed to put a report through.

“The website advice is that if it is a matter of safety, which it is, then you have to phone their emergency line – well, good luck with that.

“I tried twice for 20 minutes and nobody answered; this is a significant hazard and they are doing nothing about it.

“It’s on a blind bend, so you’ve got pedestrians who have to step into the cycle lane and risk being hit by a cyclist coming the other way.”

Mr Collins added it may well be more than a year since the hedgerow was last maintained.

“Nearer towards North Station, there’s evidence there has been some fairly regular attempts to cut back the hedgerow and clear the footpath, but on that corner, it’s been a year or more," he said.

The blind bend reportedly almost caused an accident earlier this year, when Mr Collins was cycling at 6.30am, but even with lights, he said it would be impossible for the pedestrian to see him.

“She couldn’t have seen me, because that hedgerow would have totally obscured her view,” he said.

Essex County Council has been contacted for comment.