A COUNCILLOR has branded the position of a cycle rack in Thorpe-le-Soken railway station a "poor decision".

Tendring Councillor Robert Bucke (Independent) raised concerns when the facility was installed three months ago because of its risk to public safety.

Mr Bucke says the cycle rack sticks out on the platform and puts commuters at risk, particularly young children and people who are visually impaired.

He has also made claims the installation is not Disabled Discrimination Act (DDA)-friendly.

Following Mr Bucke's complaints, Paul Oxley, stakeholder manager at Greater Anglia, said the cycle rack was moved back to allow additional space on the platform.

However, Mr Bucke thinks nothing of the "minor move".

He said: "The current choice of location still leaves the installation liable to cause injury to travelling customers, particularly those who might be blind or sight-impaired.

"To that extent, the installation is non-DDA friendly, even though there are warning notices placed thereon which such impaired customers will not see.

"It could've been placed within 50 metres to the east of the entrance or west of the bridge, out of people's way. It was a poor decision."

Since the move, Mr Bucke has also requested to see Greater Anglia's risk assessment for the facility but was advised this would not be possible.

A spokesperson said the documents are for "internal use only" and would therefore "not be published within a public domain".

They said: “In the past three months, we have more than quadrupled the provisions for cyclists at Thorpe-le-Soken station.

“The new two-tier cycle racks provide considerably more room for cyclists to store their bikes.

"The structure is compliant with disability access laws and we have not received any correspondence from station users who have encountered problems while using the cycle racks.

“Thorpe-le-Soken is a manned station and passengers can request assistance if they require extra help moving around the station or boarding the train."