RESIDENTS in a privately owned road have not been using their front doors for four years due to a legal wrangle.

The pavement outside the Dalry block of flats has never been completed as Canmore Housing Association does not own Duff Street Lane. As a result, the front doors are out of bounds as it is deemed too dangerous to use the road.

However, tenants are fed up with entering and leaving through their back doors, which are reached by a footpath. Today they described the situation as "ridiculous", and said ambulances and delivery lorries were also unable to get access.

The road belongs to Bruce Bairnsfather, who owns a nearby garage and uses it to park cars. Canmore has already taken him to court twice – unsuccessfully – in an effort to bring the road up to the required standard.

Graham Burt, 45, has lived on the street for four years. He said: "We're not meant to use the front doors. They're only meant to be used as a fire exit. It's ridiculous.

"Some people do cut across the lane, but it's dangerous because of the state of the road. There's quite a few elderly people here. Some people have slipped and fallen.

"One time my mum was taken to hospital and the ambulance couldn't get in. The road isn't wide enough.

"This is the only place where we can have deliveries. But the delivery people aren't meant to use the front door. They're meant to park in the next street and walk round to the back door."

Graeme Russell, head of tenancy services at Canmore Housing Association, said Mr Bairnsfather bought the road after Canmore began building the flats about five years ago.

He said: "This is a unique situation. We built the houses on the good faith that the road would be brought up to adoption standard.

"The pavement has never been built. There are burned out wrecks of cars all over the road. It's unsafe and dangerous at the present time.

"Since people moved in, what should've been the back doors are used as the front doors. There's a substantial drop from the front doors to the road. We can't allow our tenants to climb over this,or negotiate their way through the burned out cars.

"It's a difficult situation which is impacting on the quality of life of our tenants. This is quite clearly an issue if a fire engine or an ambulance had to access the road. We've also had a problem with rubbish piling up, as bin lorries couldn't get in."

Mr Bairnsfather said he would be prepared to sell the road, but had not yet been made a "reasonable offer".

He says he needs it for his business, as there is nowhere else to park cars. He has been running the garage since 1986.

He said: "I do have sympathy for the tenants. I get on all right with them. I turn a blind eye if they do use the road.

"This is between me and Canmore Housing Association. I would be prepared to sell it, but they haven't made me any offer. It's a valuable patch of land.

"Why they have been allowed to get tenants in there is beyond me."

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