DOG walkers using Toothill Park can now rest easy after a new safety fence was installed to prevent more pets from running onto Great Western Way and being killed.

Over the last decade, countless canines have been killed on the A3102 due to no safety fence being in place to separate the park and dual carriageway.

Susan White, who has lived in the area since 1993, first raised the problem with Coun Tim Swinyard and is delighted that a solution has finally been found.

The 56-year-old regularly takes her seven-year-old dog Buddy on walks in the park park but had previously refrained from walking near the bottom end out of fear that Buddy could run off towards the toad.

“A lot of people know when you get to a certain point you have to put your dog on its lead,” she said.

“A friend of mine has been walking her dog there longer than me and she knows of four incidents when dogs have been killed from where they’ve gone from the park onto the dual carriageway.

“Toothill Park is a really popular area for dog walkers and I had never contacted my local councillor about anything specific before because a lot of the time nothing ever happens.

“There was a concern among people and a fence seemed like such a simple thing to be done. It is a low-cost way to make such a big difference and potentially stop or prevent something tragic from happening.”

Susan says despite being reluctant to report the problem to a councillor, due to a lack of action being taken in the past, she is glad the fence has been installed to help dog walkers in the future.

“I have written to the council on different matters and never got a response but Tim has been great because he came out straight away to see the problem and he couldn’t have been nicer,” she added.

“The point where the end of the park gets to the underpass is on a bit of a blind bend on the dual carriageway so if a dog did run out, a driver wouldn’t see it or have time to brake.

“We so often criticise people and the council when things go wrong that I thought it would be really nice to highlight where they’ve helped make a difference because a lot more people will now have the confidence to walk their dogs that way or play with their children safely.”

Coun Swinyard said: “As a dog lover myself, I was extremely concerned when Mrs White first contacted me as her borough councillor about the lack of adequate fencing where Toothill Park meets Great Western Way, a very busy road with fast traffic. Dog walkers like to be able to let their dogs run around, but there was nothing whatsoever to prevent the dogs running into a busy road.

“For some time I have been working to find a solution and once the West Swindon Parish was set up I asked Matt Walker, the parish councillor for Toothill, to work with me on this to ensure this was done. I am pleased to say that an excellent fence has now been put up to keep our dogs safe in that area.”