Fifteen months after complaining to Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) regarding a dangerous fence on the side of a footpath, a 70-year-old man from South Street in Andover has not received any response.

It was at the end of 2019 when Roy Morgan first complained to the council about a four-foot-high metal fencing made of spikes that was built to stop people climbing over.

Mr Morgan said the fence poses a danger to several children with special needs, seniors and drunk people who regularly use the footpath.

“All they need to do is to stumble onto the fence and hurt themselves,” Mr Morgan said.

The 70-year-old said the issue started from the time a builder did a 'cheap fix' to close the gap between the corner of the footpath and a property.

“It used to be a garage at the bottom of the road [South Street] where I live," he said.

“They built houses on it. When they put up a boundary wall, there was a gap of 4-5 metres long.

“And they took some old security fencing, the stuff that was around the garage, to fill the gap. That metal fencing is only four foot off the ground. It has spikes which are designed to stop people climbing over. And now it is possible that somebody could fall on top of them.”

Mr Morgan had to call and email several times to reach the right person at TVBC. When finally complained, the council told him that they would deal with it. He said the council tried to cover the fencing with building screens.

“But they didn't do a very good job. There is still about half a metre of fence exposed which they didn't cover. And that's the end of the job. They walked away.

“When I asked an officer, he said the council doesn’t know who’s the owner of the property.

“They acknowledge the fact that it's a liability.”

But Mr Morgan is not willing to back off despite the passive response from TVBC.

"It is not affecting my family. But the footpath is in constant use by people going down the road over the river towards the town centre.

"As far as I'm concerned, anybody could fall onto that fence and damage themselves.

"It's just a mess. It's an eyesore. It's hazardous."

A TVBC spokesperson said: "This was initially raised as a planning enforcement query during lockdown but it doesn’t breach planning control in terms of height or structure. Although the fencing, and land, doesn’t belong to TVBC, with no owner coming forward, we will be replacing it."