FOR more than a decade Chris Cannon has enjoyed an evening stroll through idyllic parkland near his Eastleigh home.

Walking through Lakeside Country Park has been the perfect way for the 53-year-old carpenter to relax after a stressful day at work.

But now his way in has been barred by a 6ft chain-link fence which means he has to drive a mile and a half to ramble in an area just yards from his doorstep.

Council chiefs who put up the barrier insist Mr Cannon's route into the park was never a public right of way but have pledged to improve access for people living nearby.

The fence has been put up to make way for 24 new allotment plots at the western end of a strip of land at the back of South Street and Monks Way.

The new allotments will be replacements for South Street and Monks Way allotment holders if controversial plans to build more than 500 houses on their plots are approved by the government later this year.

But Mr Cannon, of Chestnut Avenue, said the new fence means that instead of a pleasant walk from his front door, he now has to get into his car and drive round to the entrance of Lakeside in Wide Lane.

He said: "The fences have been put up so that we can't get through from Monks Way and Chestnut Avenue. It's obviously annoyed other people too because some of it has been knocked down already.

"We used to use the gate and turnstile on the proper path leading to the lakes and to the park but that has all been stopped now that the fences have been erected. There is absolutely no way through at all.

"I am driving a mile-and-a-half to go for a walk in an area that is yards from my doorstep - it's ridiculous."

An Eastleigh council spokesman said: "It is understood that residents have walked across this land in the past to gain access to the country park however much of it is privately owned and there is no public right of way.

"If the proposed housing development on the South Street and Monks Way allotments takes place the council will ensure that improved access links are provided to new areas of public open space directly into the country park."