A POPULAR north Ceredigion cycle path is finally being repaired after months of it being “effectively closed”.

The stretch of the Ystwyth Trail has been hit by flooding after a damaged culvert was not repaired with local resident John Warren saying the path needs much better maintenance with problems with erosion and potholes as well as the flooding issue.

After several attempts by Mr Warren to get the council to take action, the authority finally carried out work on the path on Friday, 16 November.

In an email to the council before the work was carried out, Mr Warren said the delay in carrying out the necessary work had affected the number of people using the path and had caused concerns with transport organisation Sustrans.

Mr Warren was so eager to see improvement work on the path that he started working on filling in potholes himself.

He said: “I live along cycle route 81/82, just returning after two years away we have discovered there is a blocked culvert which means the cycle route is under water.

“A further section is so badly eroded most cyclists seems to be turning back at this point. It looks dangerous to me and I fear for the safety of cyclists.

“As a keen cyclist I have already started work filling in potholes, but the blocked culvert really requires heavy machinery.

“The Ystwyth Trail is in such a bad state it has become effectively closed. The blocked culvert makes it impassable on foot, and cycle use has fallen to one or two bikes a day. Surely the national cycle network is something Ceredigion Council should be supporting.

“Previously it has received European funding, but this seems mostly to have been spent on unneeded fencing and gates, rather than on the surface of the track.”

A Ceredigion Council spokesperson said: “The council had been made aware of an issue of minor flooding at this location and works to clear the culvert were completed during the week commencing 12 November.”