ANGRY Purley villagers fighting plans to run a footpath behind their homes have accused West Berkshire Council of using new guidelines to "squeeze through" a bid to close gaps in the Thames Path.

The council wants to create a public footpath behind four homes in Hazel Road, Purley, linking two sections of the national pathway which stretches from Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Thames Flood Barrier in Woolwich and was approved by ministers 20 years ago.

A temporary route currently leads walkers along Oxford Road, down New Hill to meet the towpath near Mapledurham Lock, but the proposed route would cut through Skerritt Woods, Hazel Road and the Purley Marina to reach the river.

On the second day of a public inquiry into the scheme, Natural England adviser Nigel Hiscock, was challenged over the merits of the planned route by solicitor David Warner, representing three of the four Hazel Road householders.

He said: "There has been no attempt made by the council or Natural England to suggest or implement a new route which would avoid building a path behind the homes in Hazel Road.

"When the Countryside Commission drew up the original report in 1989 it noted a problem with access past the Roebuck and the solution was to re-route the path through the Marina and the residential homes in Hazel Road.

"But according to Natural England's quality standards set out for building and maintaining national pathways, it says paths should not be built on private residential land, which is surely being broken here."

Mr Warner added: "The proposed route agreed 20 years ago was under the old guidelines of the Countryside Commission, which are now in contradiction to the new guidelines set out by Natural England.

"This is simply an attempt to squeeze the chosen route through and in reality Natural England's own quality standards are better met by the temporary route currently in place."

Mr Hiscock said: "This is the proposed route agreed 20 years ago by the Secretary of State and therefore we are actively looking to complete the route to the agreed plans.

"The current temporary route covers a lot of residential roads and does not take in enough of the scenery and points of interest of the Thames.

"However the new route through Skerritt Woods and up behind the homes in Hazel Road does meet more of our standards and would be more suitable for a national path."

There have been 72 objections from villagers, including one from Thames Valley Police, who say routing the Thames Path behind Hazel Road "would increase the risk of criminal activity in the area".

Hazel Road resident David Gibbins said "It's plain to see that the council and Natural England have made little or no attempt to consider changing the proposed route and from what I've heard today, they have simply overlooked the police evidence and safety advice."

The iinquiry continues.