TEST Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council are informing us to ‘walk and enjoy the Hampshire countryside’. Great.

Take into consideration that a few years ago the authorities spent a considerable amount of taxpayers’ money on providing a tarmac path through the Harroway.

Sadly, since this ‘improvement’ or ‘enhancement’ was carried out on the Harroway, no maintenance has been carried out with regard to keeping these pathways clear.

Take the Harroway from East Portway, which passes via Stannah stairlifts workshops.

The tarmac footpath has decreased in width from original size of 8ft to 4 or even 3ft owing to overhanging brambles, branches’ shrubs, lichen/moss and nettles.

Go up this route to the end, cross over the main road, and continue on the Harroway and find similar problems.

At the end of this route, turn left and immediately cross over to your right and then try to enter the Harroway, where you will require a chainsaw, shears, croppers and maybe a guide in which to hack your way through (this reminds me of my years in the jungles of Borneo and Malaya), right up to the very end where this track then joins the main road into Penton on your right.

The very same is if you turn left passing Nelson’s, which is on your right, down to join the Weyhill road.

Come on, whoever is responsible for maintaining these areas, get into action now and let us ‘enjoy the Hampshire countryside’ without having our faces and arms ripped apart.

Stuart Mills, Elmstead Park, East Cholderton