Furious councillors and horticultural society chiefs have called for a site visit with bosses behind a £1 million cycling scheme in Shrewsbury amid fears that one new section is an “accident waiting to happen”.

Despite bowing to pressure from Shrewsbury Town Council to retain Victoria Quay as a two way street, councillors yesterday claimed no changes had been made to take account of that following work on the Sustrans: Connect 2 project.

A number of proposals have been put forward to improve cycling and walking routes.

These include a new promenade along the River Severn in the town centre, toucan crossings across Welsh Bridge and Smithfield Road, and cycle lane links.

But work already carried out near the Welsh Bridge and Victoria Quay area has been criticised.

Town clerk Helen Ball told yesterday’s meeting of the recreation and leisure committee the next step wo- uld be to ask for a site visit. She said: “I wrote to them and expressed our concerns about the standard of work.

“I received a response from the highways department to the effect that they feel they have retained the two way street along Victoria Quay and they have contacted consultants Mouchel and they don’t see it as a problem.

“We have witnessed HGV vehicles, because it is so tight, having to mount the kerb to go straight onto the Smithfield Road.”

Councillor Jackie Brennand said it was a concern.

She said: “It’s an accident waiting to happen, really.”

Members claimed Shropshire Council had made changes to the road suitable for a one-way system but claimed they had not done enough to make provisions for it remaining two-way.

They said they feared vehicles may have to reverse back out of Victoria Quay towards Bridge Street in order to avoid confrontation with HGVs and trucks.

A representative of Shropshire Horticultural Society said they were also concerned about the changes under the Connect 2 scheme and wanted to be part of a site visit.

By Russell Roberts