THE council has been criticised after it installed a row of "dangerous" metal posts right in the middle of a cycle lane.

The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) said Waltham Forest Council's decision to erect the metal barriers in Snaresbrook Road could cause accidents.

The barrier forms part of a new road crossing for nearby Forest School, with the aim of encouraging pupils and parents to walk to school rather than use cars.

When the posts were first installed they were placed in the middle of the cycle lane, which runs along the pavement.

But since then the council repainted the lane, so that it stops just inches before the barriers.

Gerhard Weiss, of the Waltham Forest branch of the LCC, said: “The first I knew about the barrier was when I nearly rode into it one evening. It's a black, rigid obstacle in the centre of the cycle track. When I emailed the council, they did at least put some reflective tape on it.

“LCC wholeheartedly welcomes measures to get school users out of their cars, but this treatment is fairly typical of how the London Cycle Network is implemented in Waltham Forest. The cycle paths are put in, but no-one worries about the important details.

"I can't understand why the road wasn't narrowed so cars must slow and the pavements are wider. This would have given space for the cycle lane and made the crossing safer for everyone."

A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council reportedly told the group that cyclists should go around the barrier.