The Parish Council are offering readers the chance to name the new off-road path in Beer now it has approval from Devon County Council.

The proposed scheme, which stretches between Long Hill and Beer Hill in the village, is likely to finally come to fruition this financial year after a long battle to get the project off the ground.

The idea for a path from was conceived by the community, but took years of work by the Parish Council and then support from District and County Councillors to ultimately become a live project.

The proposed path will run in the field along the south side of New Road, the busy main road from Beer to Seaton, and it is hoped will vastly improve road safety for the two communities, along with the visitors to the area.

But the scheme has been many years in the making, with the Parish Council starting to take action in 2007 to overcome the issues blocking its path, such as assigning one Parish Councillor, Eric Cozens, to simplify the process.

Eventually the project was guided through the planning process before being authorised to proceed during 2011/12 by the DCC Cabinet Budget Committee last month.

A statement from Beer Parish Council said: “Success for this four-year journey will only be recorded once the path is available for people to use and continue their own particular travels in safety. But now, at least, there is optimism that a very long journey may be coming to a happy end.”

Anybody with any suggestions for a name for the path should visit http://www.beerparishcouncil.org.uk for details.