A WORCESTERSHIRE county councillor is furious that plans for a pelican crossing on a Kidderminster road have been "dumped" by the authority.

Mike Oborski said a £95,000 scheme had been promised for Tennyson Way, by the Wordsworth Crescent junction leading to Offmore First School, as part of the Safe Routes to Schools initiative, for three years.

He said: "Time and time again they (county council officers) told us 'We'll do the Spennells Valley Road pelican crossing, then the Comberton Road pelican crossing and then we'll do the Tennyson Way crossing'.

"These other crossings have now been installed and we were expecting an early start to a Tennyson Way pelican crossing."

Councillor Oborski continued: "As late as Thursday, January 12, the county were promising a pelican crossing.

"Then, a couple of days later, they were suddenly talking about doing little more than 'kerb drops', with no crossing of any sort whatsoever."

He said he met council officers and consultants on Thursday, January 19 to discuss the matter and was told the £95,000 was no longer available for the crossing.

Councillor Oborski said officers proposed road-narrowing measures on the road, either side of the junction, and agreed to include a zebra crossing in the scheme, which would cost £45,000.

The Liberal councillor said officers had stated that if the £45,000 was not spent by April, the end of the current financial year, the money available for the road would be reduced to £25,000.

He added: "It is an absolute disgrace. The school, the pupils and the residents have needed a pelican crossing for three years and everybody agreed.

"How can the county council suddenly say they are not going to do it?

"As they are refusing to pay for anything else, we must get the zebra crossing and road narrowing package started by April or we are going to lose out all together."

He said the council was now going to go out to public consultation on a zebra crossing and a road-narrowing package in February.

Maggie Jameson, delivery and operations manager at the county council, said: "A zebra crossing has been proposed for some time. Staff have been looking at a zebra crossing and other options.

"The options for Tennyson Way are still with the design agents and the design has not been decided.

"If we go into a new financial year before any new schemes are started, those schemes will have to meet the new local transport plan.

"The new plan has to be approved by the council so, until then, we will not be able to allocate money to the scheme."