North Yorkshire highways workers have given a new lease of life to an increasingly popular footpath in South Kilvington.

The clean-up operation was one of the first tasks undertaken by NY Highways which was launched at the start of June. The new company is responsible for all highways services after the County Council’s contract with private sector company Ringway ended.

Stockton Road has long been lined with a narrow footpath able to facilitate single-file walkers.  However, during the pandemic it has seen an influx of usage and requests were made to cut back the grass and overhanging hedges.

County Councillor Gareth Dadd, local member for Thirsk, said: “Stockton Road was too narrow for the increased number of people using it over the past year or so as during lockdown people were encouraged to walk locally.

“We received a number of requests to remedy the overhanging hedges to make it more accessible. These only increased during the recent warm weather which has seen hedges grow very quickly. The path is now unrecognisable. Our highways team have done a great job in ensuring it can cope with the increase in walkers and will serve them well for the summer season and beyond.”

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said: “Over the last few weeks we have seen a very smooth transition period with crews continuing to carry out everyday highways maintenance tasks. The work on the path on Stockton Road shows that although we are looking at large improvement schemes, we are also prioritising the smaller tasks which benefit our local communities. 

“NY Highways is committed to continuing and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the service being delivered on North Yorkshire’s network of almost 5,800 miles of roads.”