A 'footpath to nowhere' will not be extended to the nearest bus stop.

Eric Blunden, who lives on King George VI Drive, Hove, has been campaigning for nine years to have the footpath on nearby King George VI Avenue lengthened.

Brighton and Hove City Council is to start the work but the path will not go as far as Mr Blunden hoped because the council cannot afford it.

The pavement runs from Goldstone Crescent and up the hill towards the A27 but comes to an abrupt halt near Mr Blunden's house.

It means pedestrians have to walk along the grass verge and cut across a grass copse to reach the nearest bus stop in Dyke Road Avenue, a muddy route in the rain.

Mr Blunden, 70, first noticed the problem in 1994 after an operation meant he could no longer walk and had to use the bus. He was told by Brighton and Hove City Council the path would be completed when new houses nearby were built.

The houses were finished last year and Mr Blunden asked the council again to link the path to Dyke Road Avenue.

The council promised the work would be done before April next year.

But Mr Blunden has learnt it only plans extend the path about 45 yards.

He said: "This is only partly doing the job. It should have been done when they built the roundabout back in the 1980s.

"There should be a special additional fund so the council can do the job properly. It is already skimping by making a stone path instead of a hard surface path."

A council spokeswoman said: "There is no special budget for this kind of work.

"The council took Mr Blunden's views on board and was able to secure funding to extend the footpath part of the way.

"We may be able to look at this in the next financial year to see if we can fund a further extension of the footpath.

"But at this time all we can do is what we have the money for."