Phil Symmonds couldn't believe his eyes when a telegraph pole appeared right in the middle of the pavement near his house.

The pole blocks the pavement in Orford Way, Malvern, forcing pedestrians and mums with prams to walk in the road to get round it.

It was put up by BT to replace one located off the path in undergrowth.

"They couldn't be bothered to cut the hedge back a bit so they just stuck the new pole in the middle of the pavement," said the 51-year-old Mr Symmonds.

"It's pitch black here in winter. If you came along here with a pram how would you ever get past that?

"Common sense tells you that that's not right."

BT press officer Emma Tennant said that it was normal practice to put replacement poles in a different place, to avoid a loss of service while the old one was taken down.

"We normally put it as close as possible to make the change over as smooth as possible," she said.

"We need to bear in mind what's under the ground in the area. We don't want to go through someone else's equipment."

Her colleague Paul Dorrell said that something would be done about the pole within the next two weeks.

"I can confirm that we are getting someone out to look at it," he said. "If it's causing distress to residents then it will be shifted but there are no promises. If our inspector says 'no, that is provided to our normal standards and specifications' then it won't be moved."

Peter Gill, area housing manager for Elgar Housing Association, which owns many of the homes in the area, said: "It does seem rather bizarre that they've placed it where they have. We haven't had any complaints but we are taking the matter up with BT."