Southend Council is facing legal action after it blocked up a pathway under the town's pier.

The path, which predates the 1830 construction of Southend pier, was suddenly closed in February.

To make it completely inaccessible, the right of way was then sealed off with railings and blocked with an asphalt parapet.

The action by Southend Council has created furore among ramblers, who say that the action was wrong and a mockery of consultation procedures laid down by law.

The case has now been taken up by the national office of the Ramblers' Association (RA), the country's leading organisation devoted to walking, with 142,000 members.

Ramblers' Association officer Eugene Suggett said: "We are concerned about the gravity of this situation in which the highway authority is itself responsible for the obstruction of a highway which, however, it is their duty to keep open."

A Southend Council spokeswoman said: "The path below the pier is low. Its height is under two metres and highway regulations state that a footpath like that must have a head clearance of 2.5 metres.

"It is also liable to flooding by the tide and periods where there is heavy rain. It was for these health and safety reasons that the decision to close the footway was taken by the council cabinet committee in February."