It is the footpath to nowhere - and frustrated Eric Blunden says he has been waiting since 1994 to find out where it will lead.

For the footpath which runs along King George VI Road, Hove, from Goldstone Crescent up the hill towards the A27 junction roundabout suddenly comes to an abrupt halt before it reaches the end of the road.

It means pedestrians have to walk along the grass verge if they want to reach nearby Dyke Road Avenue where the bus stops.

Mr Blunden, 70, who lives in nearby King George VI Drive, first noticed the problem in 1994 after a head operation meant he could no longer drive and had to walk and use the bus.

He was told by the council the footpath, which ends near his house, would not be completed until new houses being built nearby were finished.

Last year Mr Blunden noticed the houses were finished and asked Brighton and Hove City Council to complete the pavement and link it with Dyke Road Avenue.

The council told Mr Blunden a tarmac footpath leading to the end of King George VI Road and around the corner to Dyke Road Avenue would cost £8,000.

Instead it proposed a stone footpath which would cut a corner across a copse, with a price tag of £3,000. It said it hoped to do the work before April next year.

Mr Blunden was happy with the plan but fears the council will not get the job done before the year is out.

He said: "The council is not going to give me a date. It is pleading poverty but I do not believe the council can plead poverty for nine years.

"The path is necessary and the city council is obliged to provide a footpath for all residents who pay the extortionate council tax.

"It is all right at this time of year but in the winter when it is raining you get mud and grass all over your shoes."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We hope to carry out the work during the current financial year. It is on our list of minor traffic works.

"But we can't guarantee it because of the number of requests for road and pavement work."