HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds will be spent resurfacing a popular path.

Essex County Council has set aside £350,000 to pay for the Wivenhoe Trail to be improved.

The trail, which links Colchester and Wivenhoe, will be upgraded so it is easier to use by people on bikes and can be designated a formal cycle track.

As well as providing the new surface, there are plans to create a complementary track running between upper Wivenhoe and Essex University.

The new path would either be routed alongside the road between the fire station and campus, or across farms.

If the second option is chosen, the council will negotiate buying farmland and may have to make a compulsory purchase order.

Designs for the upper Wivenhoe track should be ready around March and it could be open by 2012.

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