The council is set to invest more than £60,000 on a footpath on Walney Island in a bid to improve one of the ‘most important outdoor assets’ in the area.

Members of the Furness Locality Board are in line to allocate £67,000  from the sustainable travel and transport fund to improve the footpath between Biggar Bank and Sandy Gap at a meeting on January 11.

Councillor Frank Cassidy (Walney Island, Labour) said: “Biggar Bank is among our most important outdoor assets and me and my fellow councillors Therese Assouad and Anita Husband are delighted to be on the brink of agreeing £67,000 of funding to make further improvements to this part of the island.

“In 2022 I successfully argued for £60,000 of government environment cash to be spent on resurfacing the old path from the Roundhouse to just short of Thorney Nook.

“That has proved to be a very popular upgrade because it’s used every day by families, runners, dog-walkers and visitors to the island. Now we can turn our attention to completing the job by resurfacing the path from the Roundhouse to Sandy Gap.”

Cllr Cassidy said he was grateful to Westmorland and Furness Council officers for their help in organising this piece of work and to his locality board colleagues for their support.

Councillor Therese Assouad (Walney Island, Labour)  added: “It is wonderful to see so many people enjoying the delights of our shore and I feel sure this additional facility will be a great asset to all and become an additional attraction to our potential visitors to the area.”

The Furness Locality Board is set to approve plans to improve the footpath when the board meets on Thursday (January 11) at Barrow Town Hall.