CONSTRUCTION work related to the Wroughton Airfield Solar Park has left the grass by a scenic West Swindon cycle path looking like 'The Somme' according to one frustrated resident.

The work took place in an area of green land to the south of Great Western Way between the Mannington Retail Park and the Blagrove roundabout.

Local resident Andy Bissex, of Toothill, said: “We were aware that there was work going on but we weren’t sure what the nature of it was.

“It started back in the autumn so we’ve been avoiding it. We went down yesterday for the first time and I was shocked to see the state it had been left in.

“It’s been pulverised, it’s a complete and utter mess, the whole area now resembles The Somme.”

Despite being close to a railway line and a busy dual carriageway, the cycle path previously offered a pleasant escape, especially during warmer months.

Andy said: “It was a lovely tranquil green area, with little copses, expanses of grass and flowers.

“That has all gone now, it just looks like a wasteland.

“It used to make for a lovely spring evening walk with the dog, families would head down there for a cycle ride.

“I’m hoping that Swindon Borough Council are going to insist that the land is restored.”

A spokesperson for the council said: “The land is owned by the council, but the work is being done by contractors who are laying an underground electricity cable from the Science Museum’s solar farm at Wroughton Airfield.

“Although conditions are making it difficult for the contractor and it is inevitable that the ground will be churned up, we have received some complaints about the effect the work is having on the safety of the cycle path and we have spoken to the contractor about this.

“The contractor hasn’t finished the work yet, but they are aware that we will expect the ground to look a lot better on completion than it does at the moment.”

When it is completed, the solar park at the airfield will produce 40MW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of 12,000 average local homes.

It is a joint project between the Science Museum Group and Public Power Solutions, when planning was agreed it was argued that local communities would reap a number of substantial ecological and biodiversity benefits.

It was acknowledged during the planning process that the work to install the park would have a significant impact on nearby landscapes, but planners decided that these were outweighed by the exceptional nature of the scheme.

The work was originally due to be completed by March 2016 and no revised estimate has been provided.

A community benefit scheme amounting to approximately £40,000 a year has been allocated to benefit the local area, perhaps some of it might best be used to repair the damage to the existing green environment that the project has caused.