Ref. 26224-24A NEW cycle path laid through a Swindon nature reserve is in need of repair just four months after it was built at a cost of £200,000.

The surface layer of the path, which runs through the Seven Fields Nature Reserve in Penhill, is creasing and chipping away in several places.

Now, volunteers on the Seven Fields Conservation Group, which runs the 100-acre reserve, have hit out at the way Swindon Council carried out the whole project.

They say the reserve was damaged during the work.

And they fear further damage will be caused when repairs to the track are carried out.

Before work started, the volunteers met with council officers to discuss how to prevent damage occurring.

Bill King, chairman of the conservation group, said: "We attended so many meetings with the council, but they have just ignored the conditions we drew up.

"They were not supposed to drive vehicles on to the reserve. Also, they were supposed to use a car park for storage, but they used part of the reserve.

"The reserve has been treated like a building site. It will take a couple of seasons for the meadows to recover.

"I am just worried they will make more mess when they do the repairs."

Although the path was laid by Swindon Council's technical services section, TSG, the surface was added by a sub-contractor.

The council said the repairs will be carried out by the sub-contractor at no extra cost to the authority.

Spokeswoman Caroline Pike said: "The sub-contractor will return to rectify the surface when the failure is fully investigated, at their cost.

"The contractor will be closely supervised by Swindon Services and Environmental Services on their return to ensure minimal impact on the environment."

She added that workers had done their best to keep the area tidy while work progressed.

The situation has not been helped by vandals, who have thrown stones used for infilling into a stream which runs through the reserve, she said.

Marc Taylor, of Swindon's Bicycle Users Group, has used the path.

He said: "You can ride along the path with no problems, but it is not going to stay that way unless something is done."

Work on the two-metre wide path, which runs between Pond Street in Haydon Wick and Whitworth Road in Pinehurst, started in January as part of a £1.25-million scheme to create a network of cycle lanes in the borough.

Last year, the surface of a cycle path in the Lawns had to be torn up because of similar problems.

It was re-laid by contractors Hanson at no extra cost to the council. Hanson was not responsible for the surface on the Seven Fields track.