Confusion over the legality of cycling through a park in Kenilworth – where a shared-use pedestrian and bike path is set to be built – has led to cyclists allegedly being “abused” by their fellow residents, a councillor has claimed.

Earlier this year, Kenilworth Town Council’s planning committee approved plans for a new continuous shared-use path across Abbey Fields, the Warwickshire town’s largest public park.

The path will form part of National Cycle Network route 52 and connect Bridge Street and Borrowell Lane to the town’s new leisure centre, enabling pedestrians and cyclists to use the historic park as a through route.

The plans for the path were drawn up following a public consultation which showed an increased interest in cycling across Abbey Fields. According to the local authority, the new path will “increase community use of Abbey Fields, enabling different users, including cyclists, to share the path when visiting the new swimming pool area and the play area, with the introduction of clear signage”.

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The council’s approval came after years of delays and debate concerning the lay-out of the shared route, due to heritage-based concerns over proposals to widen the existing path to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the potential for conflict between the park’s users.

Following the decision to approve the scheme, Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Milton described the much-delayed project as one “that has become unnecessarily controversial”.

“It’s easy to forget how vital it is for opening up active travel links across the town. Hopefully we’ll see some real progress and spades in the ground soon,” he said in May.

However, it appears that delays to starting work on the new scheme, which has yet to see a planning application submitted, have raised more problems, with confusion now reigning over where cycling is and isn’t currently allowed in the park.

Abbey Fields is, for the moment, home to a pedestrian path, but cycling on it is not permitted under Warwick County Council’s byelaws, despite the new swimming pool, located within the park, boasting bike parking facilities.

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During a recent meeting of Warwick District Council, calls were made to introduce new signage to help clear up the confusion, which Milton claims has led to friction between pedestrians and cyclists accessing the swimming pool, Kenilworth Nub News reports.

At the meeting, the Lib Dem councillor asked colleagues to come up with a “quick way” to “make things clearer”, suggesting new painted signage at the entrance to the path from Bridge Street.

“I have put a request into officers, which they are exploring at the moment, about the route that goes from Bridge Street to the pool,” he said.

“I have had a couple of residents who have had abuse for cycling on that piece. Basically, they are cycling on it to get from Bridge Street to the cycle parking at the pool. It is still technically against the byelaws to do that.”