The reason why part of Hadleigh's picturesque riverside walk was left in an ugly, unsafe state has been revealed.

Residents, walkers and visitors to the town were disappointed to see that, since some work took place in the area and heavy vehicles had churned up the river bank last year, the bank and walk near to the Corks Lane development in a conservation area has been inaccessible and unsafe to use. 

The area has now been restored and Babergh's Public Realm team has been given a thumbs up by a resident who complained to both town and district councils over the state it was left.

Babergh praised after clearing up Hadleigh town council mess (Picture contributed)

Users of the area for walking and exercising dogs believed the unsightly damage, with dangerous ruts and holes in the land adjacent to the river, initially believed it had been caused by the construction company while they completed their works at the old Babergh council offices. 

However, it has emerged cause of the issues was due to Hadleigh town council contractors and the damage had nothing to do with the work undertaken at the site by Gipping.

• Hadleigh town council contractor's digger got stuck in mud
• Town council did not seek permission or give prior notice to Babergh about the work
• Hadleigh mayor Gordon McLeod did not have clue about what was going on
• Town clerk refuses to answer questions over fiasco and cost to Hadleigh taxpayers

It has also emerged the town council's contractor undertook some work to Alder trees on the opposite bank of the river and accessed the Babergh-owned land as part of their work without any prior notice or permission..

The resident was told the contractor had not sought permission to access the land to carry out work on allotments on the other side of the river Brett. When they became stuck in the water-logged river bank, they left the site, leaving tree debris and without repairing the huge ruts and damage to the surface their vehicles had caused. This was confirmed in an email to her from a Babergh district councillor.

After previously cutting back and removing stray willows, Babergh Public Realm operatives were not initially able to then access the area for their usual cutting and trimming and to remove tree stumps due to the state the area was left in by the town council contractors. The contractor only returned to clean up the mess in the last few weeks, some seven months since the damage was done.

A rut caused by stuck machiey (Picture contributed

A concerned resident told Nub News: "When I asked Cllr McLeod at last month's TC meeting he told me that he wasn't aware of the issue and I was promised a response, to date I have heard nothing.

"It's a shame that part of the conservation area has been out of action and so unsafe for so long, but it's great that Babergh has at last taken some action and access has been restored.

"It was also good that Babergh councillor John Ward got back to me immediately.

"It's a popular section of the river bank and has been designated the pedestrian access for Corks Lane play area while the former council offices has been a building site and it is also now accessible for us dog walkers and other visitors."

A Babergh spokesperson said: "As soon as we were made aware that a digger had got stuck while carrying out tree works near one of the entrances to the riverside walk in Hadleigh, our public realm team worked with Hadleigh Town Council and their contractor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 

"We ensured access to the footbridge remained accessible and safe, and supported the town council and their contractor to release and move the digger when ground conditions permitted.

"We also spruced up the area a bit, strimming back long grass where needed, and have more works planned to level up and improve the area further soon."

That work also includes grinding down tree stumps.

Hadleigh town council, its clerk Wendy Brame and mayor Cllr McLeod, were approached yesterday morning for comment, but failed to respond.