Angry users of a section of Middlewood Way in Macclesfield say out of control foliage has made the pathway ‘dangerous‘ and ‘almost inaccessible’.

But after complaining to the council and Tesco – which has a store neighbouring the course’s crowded section – annoyed pedestrians say neither has taken responsibility for maintaining it.

One wheelchair-bound resident, Joan Lowden, says she is forced to take shelter in nettles when passing anyone else on the path during her daily dog walk.

Joan, of Garden Close, Macclesfield, said: “It is ridiculous – a massive problem.

“When I meet anyone on the path I am forced to wheel into bushes. I have regularly been stung by nettles and scratched by the scrub. I saw a mum pushing a pram down it and she said her baby had nettles in their face because it was so bad.”

Joan has started a petition to get the pass cleared up and already has more than 100 signatures.

She added: “I went into the Tesco store a number of times but they say it’s not their responsibility. When I complain to the council they say Tesco owns it and they should be cutting it back.

“It is the part of Middlewood Way where you come out of the underpass after the Silk Road going south and along the River Bollin until you get to the crossroads.”

Another resident fed up of the disrepair is 52-year-old Robert Fickling, of Tytherington Drive, Tytherington. “It has been in a bad way since last autumn and that is too long,” he said. I go down there almost every day on my bike and I have never seen a cycle route in England so badly maintained. It means it’s a blind bend and I could hit anything coming around it.”

Mark Thomas, from Tesco, said the store was happy to cut back any excess bushes on the part of the path around the store but the section in question is not its responsibility.

He said: “We take our responsibility as a good neighbour in Macclesfield seriously and will be cutting back the vegetation on Middlewood Way, where it crosses our Hibel Road site.”

Cheshire East Council claims the footpath is not its responsibility.