Taylor Wimpey says it will be providing almost £120,000 to improve footpaths around the new 605-home Money Hill development.

The pledge came after residents of an estate off Nottingham Road complained that a path linking houses to Ivanhoe School had become almost unusable during the recent wet weather.

The new Castle Manor estate, which will be accessed from Nottingham Road, has already been earmarked, with metal fencing erected on what had been a public recreation area.

That has left pedestrians using what has been described as a 'mudbath' of a route which some people are now not using as a result.

But a Taylor Wimpey spokesperson told Ashby Nub News this week: "We recognise that certain publicly accessible areas surrounding our Castle Manor development in Ashby De-La-Zouch require improvement.

"We will be providing over £117k to the local authority, who will use the funds to upgrade and enhance public rights of way within the vicinity of the site."

One resident said that improvements to the path would eventually see less vehicles on the road, with Nottingham Road inevitably becoming busier once the new estate is completed.

He said: "The big picture is that these houses will be built, and if there is no proper pedestrian access into Ashby Town Centre, they will simply use their cars and create congestion around what is already looking like a very small entrance/exit to the new estate on Nottingham Road.

"But, at the moment, the path is very muddy and fencing that has been put up, but some of that has already been torn down.

"We know we cannot do anything about the Money Hill estate, that will be built.

"But it would be an act of goodwill on Taylor Wimpey's part to do something about the state of the paths that already exist.

"There has been talk of people parking their cars on Money Hill and walking into town, but if the path isn't there, then they won't do it."

Ashby de la Zouch Town Council and Ashby Civic Society have also been putting pressure on Taylor Wimpey in recent years over the completion of a footpath from the new estate into the town centre.

But residents on the Miller Homes estate - accessed on Woodcock Way - say they would also welcome improved pedestrian access.

Taylor Wimpey points out that it does not own the land adjacent to the footpath in question, but the local authority is then responsible for the delivery of improvement works to the footpath in question once the money has been provided.