A councillor is calling for a new path to be built at the Seager Road entrance to Barton’s Point Coastal Park, Sheerness, after it turned into a ‘quagmire.’

Chris Reed said: “It is only a small entrance which restricts dirt bikes but during the winter it has turned into a quagmire. There is no way people can wade through that mud bath.”

She has asked for a short section of path about eight feet long (2m) but says Swale council told her it isn’t possible because the canal is part of the former Queenborough Lines defences which are now classified as an ancient monument.

Mrs Reed said: “It doesn’t look like an ancient monument to me. It’s just a sea of mud. But many people like to use it.”

Swale council has since put wood chippings down as a temporary solution.

The Queenborough Lines earth embankment was built between 1863 and 1868 to protect the Royal Naval dockyard and town of Sheerness from land attack.

During the Second World War several concrete air-raid shelters were built into the rampart. In addition, some other defences including anti-tank blocks and concrete mounting blocks were built.

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