RESIDENTS are calling for action to be taken on a fenced-off path before an accident happens.

The footpath, on a sharp bend in Church Lane, Bursledon, is the subject of a legal wrangle between Hampshire County Council and the owner of the land on which the path was built.

The county council installed the path on the land which is owned privately by Robert Newbold.

When it discovered the problem, the path was fenced off because neither it nor Mr Newbold was insured against any injury incurred by pedestrians using it.

That was in April last year, and since then it has been the subject of negotiations between the county council and Mr Newbold.

Mr Newbold said a solution would be for him to lease the land to the county council.

Jenny Leeves, chairman of the Bursledon Rights of Way and Amenities Preservation Group, said members were worried that parents taking youngsters to school and other users were forced to step into the busy road.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council said the authority had been attempting to negotiate the acquisition of highway rights over the land in question, although with limited success to date.

"We are also looking into whether we can allow pedestrian access onto that part of the land which we own, while our efforts to resolve this situation with the landowner continue," said a spokesman.