NEWLY-laid allotments have been threatened by an ancient footpath – before the first full harvest for gardeners.

Land off Greenberfield Lane, Barnoldswick, was set aside for vegetable patches last summer, when the first of 22 tenants moved in.

But now Lancashire County Council officials have told gardeners that a pathway cuts right across the plots and must be safeguarded.

And Barnoldswick Town Council, which manages the allotment, has been told the path must be 24-foot wide.

Former mayor Coun Allan Buck said: “This is a footpath that I have never seen anyone walking along.

“But according to the county council it is supposed to be 24-feet wide.

"Can you imagine a footpath so wide right slap bang through the allotments site?”

He has urged Pendle Borough Council to step in and lobby the county council over the development, possibly by suggesting a diversion.

But Coun Buck, who represents the town’s Craven ward, fears that even a diversion proposal could take months to resolve and that a ‘common sense’ solution should be found.

Coun Mike Blomeley, Pendle Council leader, added: “I share these frustrations that these allotments should be so exposed. I will seek to discuss this with the footpaths officers at the county council.”

Lancashire County Council spokesman Mike Warren confirmed that the right of way ran through the Greenberfield Lane site, according to the definitive map held in the archives.

He said that often the width of the route was not specified but in this case it was stipulated that it was 24 feet wide.

The town council had been advised that an application could be made for a diversion of the right of way, which could take between 18 months and two years for the legal formalities to be completed, he added.