A PROFESSIONAL gardener and his wife took it upon themselves to clear a public path under a railway tunnel after the much-used route became impassable.

When Nikki Ashton began working at Furness Vets in Dalton she started to walk to work with her dogs in a bid to give them exercise and because of the unreliable train services.

She made her way along the popular route past Furness Abbey, underneath the railway tunnel, only to be met by a mud-filled path blocking access.

Mrs Ashton told her husband Brendan, a gardener at Haverigg Prison, who described how the pair decided to take action themselves after being unable to get the authorities to clear the route.

"We have since been told that the tunnel is the responsibility of the railway, but by this point we had started clearing it out, so we thought we may as well finish it," he said.

"During the task we discovered four drains which we have emptied and cleared as well as we could and rodded a bit."

The Ashtons borrowed equipment from family members, and Furness Vets, and while the rest of the country watched England take on Sweden in the World Cup, they cleared the tunnel of all the mud and emptied the drains.

"I am pleased that people will able to use the route now it’s clear and will try to make sure it stays clear, but my main reason for doing it is so my wife can walk the dogs to work and back," Mr Ashton said.

The couple's hard work hasn't gone unnoticed with many parents praising the pair for taking on the mammoth task after pictures of the cleared path were posted on Facebook.

Barrow mum Zoe Hurley said: "Wow. Well done to these... my daughter’s cub pack had hoped to walk under here but couldn’t because of the state of it, they will be able to now on another occasion. Fantastic effort - let’s hope the railway sorts the few issues that these people have raised."