CYCLISTS in Rayners Lane are having to dodge an advertising board in the middle of a cycle path after bumbling council officials failed to remove it.

The hoarding, which is outside Rayners Lane Tube Station in Rayners Lane, Rayners Lane, is cemented almost in the centre of the new path, which was put in place earlier this month.

Stephen Mellor and his family, of Kings Road, Rayners Lane, are all keen cyclists and the 52-year-old said when he first spotted the sign he assumed he was secretly being filmed as a joke.

He said: "I thought there must be a hidden camera somewhere and that I was on Candid Camera or something.

"I mean it is ridiculous. It's not quite in the centre of the path but the fact that it is there means that cyclists have to ride around it into the path of pedestrians.

"Doesn't this negate the point of a cycle path in the first place?

"I think cyclists have a bit of a raw deal half the time, with pedestrians ignoring the fact it's a cycle path anyway and this just makes things a little bit harder.

"Of course it's great that people are being encouraged to cycle with paths around Rayners Lane and that this one has been refurbished but it has been ruined a bit because someone has plonked some huge advertising board in the middle of it."

The sign, which has rolling advertising slogans saying 'not a good day?' and 'step up a gear', should have been moved before the cycle path was surfaced but will not cost tax payers to remove.

This is according to Brendon Hills, corporate director for community and environment at Harrow Council, who said: “The cycle lane was installed as part of a Transport for London (TfL) funded scheme in Rayners Lane.

"It includes new pavements, parking bays, cycling facilities and trees, as well as improved pedestrian crossings and lighting.

“Clearly the coordination between the partners delivering the scheme was not good enough. I apologise for this and we will do our utmost to ensure this does not happen again.

“This part of the cycle lane will be coned off for safety while we get the sign removed as soon as possible. This should of course have happened before but it was delayed and we had to press on with installing the cycle lane to keep the funding.”