A Stanmore resident is calling on Winchester Housing Association to improve a path she says is in a "lethal" state of disrepair.

It runs from the eastern end of Thurmond Crescent down to The Valley and Wendy Overy (53), who has lived there for around 15 years, says it has become dangerously slippery with mud.

Winchester City Council maintains a small section of the path while the remainder is the responsibility of the association.

It winds across a steep hillside and includes a series of turns and several steps which Mrs Overy says are dangerous because they are uneven and frequently muddy.

"The kids use it first thing in the mornings to go to school. It's lethal, absolutely lethal."

She is also concerned about the rubbish dumped beside the path.

"We have the alcoholics and the drug-users and you find old needles just lying beside the path."

Mrs Overy conducts regular sweeps of the area to remove some of the litter, including syringes and empty beer cans.

Winchester Housing Association said it cleared the area of rubbish approximately four times a year.

The path was built in 1991 and upgraded in 1997 by adding wooden slats and compacted gravel to mark out the route.

Director of housing, Stewart Smart, said the association would be giving the track another "makeover" in the near future.

"It was really nothing more than a mud track before 1991. We're pleasantly surprised it has stood the test of time so well.

"It is still passable, though there is a little bit of erosion from kids playing on the path."

He added that the association might ask the city council if litter bins could be installed by the path to reduce the amount of rubbish.

A spokesman for the council said it would be trimming the vegetation on its part of the track in the next few weeks.

He added that the council and the housing association were discussing the maintenance of the path.