TRADERS have claimed an accident is waiting to happen after a house builder blocked off part of a footpath next to a busy entrance to an industrial estate.

Workers at the Park Road South Industrial Estate, Berry Edge, Consett, have sent a petition to Derwentside District Council, protesting after housebuilder Barratt blocked off part of the footpath to build one of 180 houses.

Tony White, 59, managing director of the industrial estate, which has 300 workers, said: "We have no objection to Barratt building here. But to build one of the homes so close to the access road is an accident waiting to happen.

"Heavy lorries and plant machinery go in and out of the site on a narrow road which is not salted in winter.

"This is not about affecting our business, it is simply about safety. If people walking to work have to step off the footpath on to a road which is narrow anyway, then one day somebody will be killed."

A Barratt spokesman said the house was being constructed in accordance with the approved plans which had been the subject of rigorous consultation and scrutiny.

He said the gable end of the property was about one metre from the back edge of the footpath, a measurement found on thousands of properties throughout the UK.

He added: "The safety fence encroaches slightly on to the footpath in order to ensure the safety of the public and the site workers, but there is still sufficient space to enable two pedestrians to pass side by side.

"This is the first time we have been made aware that this was a potential issue, and the council and ourselves continue to work together to ensure safety is the priority."