CYCLISTS, mothers with prams and wheelchair users all claim they are being denied access to a Dorchester train station after a developer closed off a footpath.

Taylor Wimpey closed off the path from Damer’s Road to the north side of Dorchester West Station last July as it carried out work on the nearby Queen’s Park development.

The closure was initially for 30 weeks but local residents say the route still hasn’t been reopened.

To make matters worse they say the new path has steep steps that make it unusable for people with bikes, prams or wheelchairs.

Cyclist David Henshaw, from Dorchester, said: “There was footpath access to the north platform and that had little steps so you could easily bump a bike or a pram up there but you couldn’t now.

“The step at the top is mammoth, it seems to be about a foot tall.”

Mr Henshaw added: “They have opened it up to their houses but it’s still locked at the station end.

“Where they have built the development they have put a level pathway through but the public are not allowed to use it.

“It will annoy a lot of people who don’t yet realise.”

Broadmayne mum Annette Craddock, whose four-year-old son Sam has Down’s Syndrome and uses a pram, was upset when a path up to the town’s Borough Gardens was redeveloped to prevent level access last year.

She said she was concerned to see the same thing had happened again at the station.

Mrs Craddock said: “From what I have experienced people really don’t think of mums with prams.

“It’s awful and it’s just not on at all.

“It does effect Joe Public and there doesn’t seem to be any course of action open to us to get people to sort it out.”

Dorchester resident and wheelchair user Carol Bancroft said she was under the impression that there was an agreement that the new path would offer disabled access and was disappointed to hear this was not the case.

She said: “I don’t think much of that. I totally support trying to get disabled access.”

A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey Southern Counties said: “Taylor Wimpey has been working with Dorset County Council to make the development as accessible as possible.

“We have incorporated landing areas in order to make it as easy for less abled people as we can but are restricted by the steep incline of the land.”

The spokesman added: “Taylor Wimpey had to restrict pedestrian access to the railway station to protect members of the public during the construction of the new development.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Alternative access for rail passengers is available.”