A CAMPAIGNER and keen cyclist has slammed the council after the introduction of cycle path dividers left riders in “serious danger.”

The Echo reported last week how motorists had been left with damaged cars and pedestrians injured after tripping over the bizarre “safety measure” in Devereux Road, Southend.

It has since been confirmed by Southend Council that more six-inch high dividers are in place across the town.

Adam Jones, 51, urged for bosses at the council to think again. He said: “It’s bonkers. It stinks of the council putting random cycling infrastructures in the town just so funding can be secured for next year.

“Nobody knows whose decision it was to install them. Whoever it was needs to be called out. They’ve simply just created a hazard.

“They’ve been planned by people who don’t have a clue about cycling - or driving.”

Mr Jones, who has campaigned for cyclists across Essex, added: “It’s a recipe for disaster.

“The cyclists are riding against the flow of traffic. The concrete slabs will flip riders off their bikes.

“It matches the colour of the road surface, so it’s invisible during the day and night.

“The fact motorists are unhappy shows how dangerous it is. Cyclists are more reactive than cars as they are subject to external forces.

“They should be shouting louder than the drivers.”

He added that cycling infrastructure in the town has to change in general as the cycle lane on the seafront is a “joke”.

He added: “They’ve put car parking over the cycle lane.

“Dooring (swinging a car door into a cyclist) can be fatal.

“The dividers could be fatal too. They clearly didn’t consider this.”

Southend Council was pushed on disclosing the price of the dividers and where they had been installed, but were unable to get the information before the Echo went to print.

A spokesman for the council, said: “There are a number of cycle dividers across the borough, including along a large stretch of the seafront.

“The divider was installed in Devereux Road following collisions between cyclists and drivers being caused by drivers cutting the corner and entering the cycle path.

“The divider is similar to one in Alexandra Street which was installed at the same time in Devereux Road.

“We are aware of residents’ concerns.”