A LITTLE bit of the countryside preserved around a Malvern housing estate has become so neglected that it is no longer accessible for residents.

But confusion surrounds the question of who is responsible for one of the linking footpaths running around the houses between Spring Lane and Townsend Way.

Richard Brown, of Ramsons Close, said it was a haven for songbirds, butterflies and bees, providing an annual crop of blackberries, elderberries and sloes.

"Only yards from a busy housing estate, it is always quiet and a source of reflection on my youth, when I was able to wander this very area when it was meadows and fields," said the 64-year-old, who is disabled and gets around using a mobility scooter.

"Now, due to yearly neglect, it has become rampant and impassable to all but the brave and urgently needy."

Different parts of the footpath are maintained by Worcestershire County Council, Malvern Hills District Council and Malvern Town Council, but no one seemed to have taken responsibility for the bit linking Spring Lane with the back of Ramsons Close, said Mr Brown. "The loss of my footpath has been very sad, not only for me, but also many residents of this and neighbouring estates," he said.

At Mr Brown's prompting, Malvern Town Council has now investigated and agreed that the path in question is their responsibility.

Operations manager Charles Porter, of Malvern Town Council, told the Worcester News: "If it is our responsibility, we will sort it out."

However, Mr Brown and others with wheelchairs or pushchairs will still only be able to make a circuit of the estate.

"There are barriers at exits into Charles Way, Spring Lane and Townsend Way," he said.

"They are meant to stop cyclists, but they simply pick up their bikes and lift them over. Mothers with pushchairs and people like me, on mobility scooters, are the ones who are being barred."

Mike Davis, manager of Malvern Hills Highways Partnership, said: "We will try to help, but we have to find a balance between preventing motor cyclists and cyclists from using the paths and enabling mothers with pushchairs and others to use them."