WEST Devon residents who had been looking forward to using the new stretch of the Drake's Trail cycle path say they are 'amazed' and 'disappointed' that there will be no link to the path at Grenofen when the section opens in September.

But Devon County Council says it is negotiating to buy the land necessary to create the link.

The county council is currently finishing work to a section of the path between Anderton Lane and the new multi-million pound Gem Bridge, which includes the old railway tunnel under Grenofen.

But users of the new path will not be able to access the pub, just a few yards away, without making a steep, threequarters of a mile detour involving a busy, main road crossing. Similarly, people living at Grenofen will not be able to get on to the cycle route they live beside, without making the same detour.

Clive Pattison, landlord at the Halfway House, admitted as a business he had a vested interest in such a link — but said it was an 'appalling' waste of tax payers' money to spend millions on a path which did not benefit businesses and residents situated right next to it.

Mr Pattison said: 'From a resident's point of view, the cycle route was promised to connect Grenofen to the path in all the plans from the last five years. Without the link it means residents will have to cross the A386 at one of its fastest sections, and most dangerous.

'Families with small children will run the gauntlet of speeding cars and motorbikes in crossing the road in order to access the cycle route.

'We were promised a reduction of the speed limit to 40mph, that hasn't happened. We were promised some form of safe crossing point. That hasn't happened.'

Mr Pattison said he had agreed to Devon County Council putting a link path down the side of the pub in the car park.

'I signed over a right of access to them for a pathetically small sum of £1 — which I still haven't received.'

Mr Pattison said he had lost thousands of pounds worth of business so far, thanks to cycle path works disruptions and damage caused by contractors.

Grenofen resident Andy Blofield said: 'As a taxpayer, for the council to undertake the work thus far with a clear — and great — plan in mind and then fail to connect up the route with this final short stretch is utter madness and makes the entire plan look somewhat odd now.'

Resident Ewan Miller said: 'The new cycle track is 200 yards from where I live — it seems absolutely ridiculous they are not linking it with Grenofen — it's stupid.

'They will just get people passing through instead of stopping. It would be lovely for people to be able to stop at the pub for a pint.'

Bishopsmead resident and walker Julie Smith said: 'To have this link would have been very useful to walkers like myself and my family, not to mention the amount of cyclists who would have brought in a lot of passing trade for the pub.  

'I for one am all for supporting local businesses and I am frankly amazed that the interests of the public and a hard working local business are going to lose out.'

However, a spokesman for Devon County Council said the council fully intended to link Grenofen to the new cycle path — but a further piece of land was needed before this could happen.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, the county's cabinet member responsible for the project, said: 'We are doing everything we can to ensure that there will be a link from the new cycle path to Grenofen, through the pub car park.

'We've been negotiating for some time with the landowner for the last bit of land that will enable us to create the link, and while it's not a step we take lightly, we have now begun proceedings for a compulsory purchase order to acquire that bit of land. 

'If that is successful, we will be in a position to complete the link through the pub's car park.'