THE death of a pedestrian crossing the A303 is indeed a tragedy as reported in the December 16 Advertiser.

However, many of your readers may not be aware that walkers are actively encouraged to take their lives in their hands by crossing this road. Footpaths in the Andover area were simply cut in two when the A303 dual carriageway was built. The footpaths still exist with a break in the central barrier to allow pedestrians to cross.

Surely Hampshire County Council should seek to link these paths with nearby bridges by either extending the rights of way infrastructure or getting permissive path agreements with local landowners along field edges.

This would allow a safe crossing. Almost invariably a bridge is within a reasonable distance of the paths but cannot currently be reached because of private land.

Andover Ramblers are pressing for HCC to examine this option.

David Clark, Andover Ramblers Footpath Secretary