Meeting to be held over danger path used by speeding bikers and getaway drivers in Northampton

Residents living near the troublesome “Highway 36” bridle path linking Hunsbury Hill Avenue to Sixfields have been calling for extra for measures to stop people speeding along the popular walking route on bikes.

Last month vandals removed a set of yellow bollards designed to deter the vehicles and broke a padlocked gate - prompting Hunsbury Hill residents to call for a more permanent solution to be put in place.

On Wednesday Councillor for the area Julie Davenport (Lab, Delapre & Briar Hill), cabinet member for community safety at the borough council, Councillor Anna King (Con, Phippsville) and a representative from Northamptonshire police are due to meet at the bridle path to determine what can be done.

Deborah Nash of Wrekin Close has urged them to consider either sets of permanent “kissing gates” to stop the riders or CCTV to catch them in the act.

She said: “I walk my daughter to school along the bridle path every day and it’s hard to protect her when you know a bike can come speeding round the corner.

“It’s a real problem - it’s meant to be a nice place to walk down but you are constantly looking out for the bikes.

“The bollards don’t do anything because the riders can just nip through them.”

Mum-of-three, Mrs Nash, 45, said motorcyclists can be heard on the bridle path “almost every night.”

Recently the borough council has ordered a set of deterrent signs and railings to be put in place on the path. Mrs Nash fears they will have little effect.

Last month her neighbour Paul Denton, said there had been several near misses.

He said: “A mother and baby were struck by a bike and a man wearing a balaclava travelling at 70 miles per hour.

“It is regularly used for serious crime as a getaway route.

“The lane was used after an armed hold up of Sainsbury’s a while back. A cash point was stolen and found down there.”