OVERGROWN trees blocking street lights will result in an increase in crime if action is not taken, residents fear.
People living in Skylark Drive are calling for something to be done after trees and bushes completely covered street lights along a nearby bridle path.
The lights were installed on the Skylark Drive bridleway in 2006 after a seven-year campaign.
Now, residents say they are useless and believe Nottingham City Council should be responsible for maintaining the pathway, which leads to a park and is used frequently by dog-walkers.
Neighbourhood Watch officer Iris Busley, 65, fears that if nothing is done, there will be an increase in crime or an accident. She says she has contacted the city council a number of times about the problem but it has not sent anyone out to clear the path. "It took us seven years to get the lighting up and now the trees are overtaking it," she said.
"One of my neighbours has been up a ladder and tried to cut some of the branches but we don't have the right equipment and I just think it's disgusting.
"If we get a bad winter, some of the branches are going to fall down and they could fall on to someone walking by, on to a car or even on to a house and someone could be seriously hurts.
"It's a burglars' and muggers' paradise down there at the moment and it's only going to get worse."
Residents want the council to set up a long-term contract for maintenance of the pathway. Barbara Taylor, 59, who also lives in Skylark Drive, uses the walkway during the day but no longer uses it in the dark.
"It is a problem because the trees are so overgrown that the street lights are completely blocked," she said. "I wouldn't go down there at night like it is at the moment, I'd feel too scared being there."
Patrick Edwards, 75, said: "It is so dark down there, you just can't see anything. We've reported it so many times but nothing is getting done.
"It's a mess. One of these days someone will be attacked or killed and then they will have to do something."
Basford councillor Cat Arnold said: "I'm not sure if this is council land. I will look at it and take action if it is. If not, there's not a lot we can do."
