A STRONG protest needs to be made to the authority responsible for the great inconvenience caused to all pedestrians who have to suffer the new surface of Back Lane in Malvern, where it runs alongside the so-called water feature, stretching as far as the opening out opposite the Waitrose stone building.

It is quite impossible for cyclists to ride over it, or for elderly ladies who try to pull shopping trolleys through it, or for mothers wheeling push chairs or prams, since this new surface is a very long stretch of thick pebbles, similar to the shingle of a seaside beach. Clearly, no thought whatever was given concerning those users of the lane. In fact, one of the workmen employed in laying this shingle asked me, as I came upon it, whether I thought it was a pretty stupid operation he was having to perform.

The entire surface of pebbles needs to be removed and replaced with asphalt or, preferably, to be restored to its original natural state, as it was before that end of Back Lane was totally destroyed for the sake of the Waitrose store.

O S PEARSON, Bank Street, Malvern.