RESIDENTS in Haydon Wick are fighting to save part of a country lane which is threatened by plans for a new road.

Developers want to remove a 100-metre section of Haydon End Lane, a popular route for walkers and cyclists which runs from Lady Lane to the new Taw Hill development.

Under plans submitted to Swindon Council, a section of the lane will be diverted to make way for a new access road being built as part of the next stage of development in Haydon Wick.

But Haydon Wick Parish Council is calling for the application to be thrown out as members say the plans will ruin the much-loved lane.

Coun Richard Hailstone, chairman of the parish council, said: "In the original structure plan, the whole route was retained.

"Pedestrians and cyclists are now using this route more than ever because it connects Taw Hill with the Orbital Retail Park.

"Diverting the path along a main bus route for 100 metres is unsatisfactory and is merely being done for the developer's convenience to the detriment of existing and future residents."

At present, the lane can be used by vehicles, but it is scheduled to become a footpath and cycle route when the new estate of 5,500 homes is built.

Coun Tel Hudson regularly uses the walk. He said: "There are two problems with diverting it.

"Instead of walking along an old lane, you will suddenly find yourself walking on an urban pavement in a housing estate.

"The trouble with paths being diverted in urban areas is that it is so easy for people to get lost and not be able to find the path again."

Plans for the new road, which will run south from Thamesdown Drive through the new estate to Haydon Wick Brook, are scheduled to come before Swindon Council's planning committee on Tuesday but the application has now been deferred to a later meeting.

The application has been submitted by the North Swindon Development Company, a consortium of developers.

Mike Christmas, project manager at Swindon-based Trench Farrow and Partners, which is handling the application on behalf of the company, said: "Following the structure plan, more detailed plans were drawn up, and these showed the section of the path being removed.

"The plans were drawn up around 18-months ago, and all interested parties were considered.

"The diversion won't make a lot of difference to the length of the path.

"The plans are also environmentally sensitive, and the path will run through an attractive square."