A PARISH council has raised concerns about cyclists using a bridge without dismounting.

Signs telling cyclists to dismount before using the road bridge in Wylam were removed by the county council last year.

New signs painted on to the road were felt to be misleading, encouraging cyclists to use the footpath to the side.

Due to concerns that the path was not wide enough for pedestrians and cyclists to use, Wylam Parish Council asked for the signs to be replaced in January.

The county council instead conducted a video survey to discover what issues were present.

Although the survey saw 186 bikes use the bridge in five hours, the county council decided there wasn’t enough of an issue to replace the signs, causing anger amongst parish councillors.

The council’s chairman, Coun. Jos Joures, said: “I’m beginning to think we should write to the leader of the council and ask, ‘why are you obstructing cheap solutions in Wylam, and why are your officers obstructing simple, cheap solutions’.

“We told them we had concerns; they do the survey which shows we’re right, and then they ignore it.”

Coun. Tom Appleby added: “There is one man who finds it difficult to walk and is now reluctant to use the bridge because of the cyclists.”

Councillors agreed to write to Northumberland County Council’s leader, Coun. Peter Jackson, expressing their concerns.

A county council spokeswoman said: “We were concerned that a ‘dismount here’ sign in this location was confusing.

“We ran and analysed a video survey and found that there was no significant issue with cyclists on the pavement. We will continue to monitor the situation.”