Fears for pedestrian safety has led to fresh calls to address the lack of pavements along a ‘dangerous’ road to Otter Garden Centre, before someone is hurt.

A concerned resident, who asked not to be named, said the route from the end of Butts Road to Gosford Road is like ‘running a gauntlet’ after taking her two young grandchildren for a walk.

The grandmother said the experience had been ‘scary’ as cars sped past her, her three-year-old grandson and her daughter pushing her six-month-old daughter in a pram as they walked to the aquatics shop.

The resident said: “Well it is like running a gauntlet - we set off on the pavement out of the estate, but then there is no pavement and, trust me, it is scary.

“We got to the little bridge on what we thought was the right side to walk - one car coming towards us was going so fast I put my hand up to slow him down a bit. We crossed over and literally ran as fast as we could into the wider bits so we could let the cars go by.

“It truly was a scary walk not to be taken by the feint-hearted.

“A lot of people walk in reflective jackets, I do think there will be a fatality there.”

She also raised concerns about the roads speed limit which is 30mph, but says vehicle seemed to travel faster than that.

She added: “The speed limit on this bit of road is 30mph, which seems quite fast for a patch of road shared with cars and pedestrians.”

Councillor Glyn Dobson said the town council had been working with Otter Garden Centre to secure land for a pavement for nearly five years.

The councillor, who is chairman of the council’s property and land committee, said: “The land is valued to tell you what it is worth and we are not allowed to pay more than that. It is a dangerous road, Otter Garden Centre is getting bigger and the staff have to walk along there.”

A DCC spokesman said: “Delivering such a scheme relies on the provision of funding and private land on which to construct the footway and previously we have been unable to secure the land.

“We have previously looked at a range of options and if the land was available, it would increase the likelihood of a footway being built.”