A Stevenage dog walker is accusing Herts County Council of doing half a job after it failed to fully clear a fallen down tree from a footpath.

Part of the tree’s branches are still blocking an Aston footpath despite the council cutting it back earlier this month. Les Fisher lives in Chells and said: “They’ve chopped it back but it’s still encroaching on the path.

“If someone went down there at night they would have to be careful or they could be injured.

“They should cut it back a few more feet because at the moment it’s still a bit dangerous.”

Les, 73, walks his six-year-old dog Winnie along the path most days. It runs down the side of St Mary’s Church in Aston, along Dene Lane and goes through fields before it comes back onto Magpie Crescent in Stevenage, near to Sainsbury’s.

The tree fell across the footpath in high winds last month and initially totally blocked it.

Council workers quickly cut it back but they left the ends of its branches sticking out, creating a hazard for anyone walking along the right of way.

The ends of the branches were painted with luminous red paint recently but Les thinks it would have been much easier to simply remove them.

The pensioner studied forestry at Oaklands College before he went on to work as a porter at Lister Hospital for 27 years. He said: “It’s seems a bit stupid to me. They have done most of the job already.

“I just don’t understand why they haven’t gone a bit further and finished it properly.”

A county council spokesman said: “Thank you for drawing this issue to our attention. An officer will visit the footpath and ensure that it is made safe.”