PEOPLE living near a new science park and university campus have raised fears about safety after a popular Worcester footpath was turned into a “building site”.

Contractors started digging up the route last week as part of the ongoing redevelopment of University Park off Bromyard Road, Dines Green.

But the site has been branded “dangerous” by residents living nearby due to a lack of warning signs and fencing, meaning the area is still easily accessible via a public footpath, despite huge diggers working on the site.

A spokesman for the University of Worcester told your Worcester News they were investigating safety procedures on the site as a “matter of priority”.

Julie Reynolds, of nearby Broadway Grove, Dines Green, regularly walks her dogs along the route – that leads to Rushwick – and called for immediate action to be taken.

She said: “I came up on Tuesday when they’d started and it’s got progressively worse. With today’s health and safety conscious society, you’d think they’d have done something. I’ve spoken to four or five people who use it and they’re all annoyed. I think it’s a disgrace. “I think they’re very inconsiderate and I think it’s dangerous. A week later, it’s still the same now. There’s a big hole and no signage. There’s nothing to stop anyone getting on there. There’s been no re-routing of the footpath. I certainly think it’s not a very safe situation.

“The digger hasn’t been there since Friday, but if somebody came down the footpath from the Rushwick way, the workmen aren’t going to see children or dogs running around.

“I think they’re completely out of order digging up the footpath without re-routing it. They’re supposed to provide an alternative before they start digging it up. It’s effectively a building site.”

Fellow Broadway Grove resident Donna Blackburn-Harris said she feared for the safety of her children.

She said: “There’s nothing here at all to warn about the work. At first, I thought they were going to fence it off. Anyone could get on that building site. How nothing serious has happened, I don’t know.” A spokesman for the University of Worcester said it treated the safety of those on and around its development sites with “the utmost importance”.

The spokesman said: “The university will be investigating safety procedures on the site as a matter of priority.”

University Park – based on the site formerly known as Grove Farm – includes a new university campus, offices and medical centre on a 670,000 square-foot site.