A cyclist has slammed the "appalling" state of a Bexley cycle path.

Every day Neil Jobbins, 47, makes the 10 mile journey there and back from his home in Hartley to Darent Industrial Park in Erith.

The oil seller usually enjoys making the 50 minute journey each way to work at Fuel Oils, but says in the last two years the state of the path has deteriorated.

The route runs from Dartford through Crayford, swings up towards the Thames by the banks of the River Darent before heading into Erith.

Mr Jobbins claims the going is toughest in Crayford, where brambles reduce the normally 1.2m wide path to 30cm in some places.

The father-of-one told News Shopper: "It’s appalling. The potholes are ridiculous and they are up to 10ins deep in some places.

"When it rains there are puddles everywhere. There are brambles and weeds overgrowing it.

"My bike is adapted for it but anyone else who wanted to use it would be put off so what is the point of putting a cycle path in if you are not going to maintain it?

"There is only one way things are going at the moment and that is the closure of the path.

"I would like to see someone take responsibility for it."

Mr Jobbins says journeys to work like his should be the norm for people living on the outskirts of London but poor maintenance of routes like this is getting in the way.

He said: "Everyone should be cycling to work, whether they live in Dartford and work in Woolwich.

"They should be able to do that and this is the cycle route for it."

The path in Crayford is part of cycling charity Sustrans’ route 1, running all the way from Dover to the Shetland Islands.

Rebecca Jones, South London area manager for Sustrans, said: “We’re aware of the poor condition of this path.

“This has not been helped by the illegal use of motorbikes and quad bikes which has further damaged the route in Crayford.

“We are continuing to work with the police to try and eradicate illegal use here.

“As a charity we have limited resources and unfortunately there is no statutory funding available for maintaining cycle routes, something that we would like to see changed.

“To try and fund maintenance we have bid for various grants in recent years but have not yet been successful in winning funding.

“We will continue to try and gain funding for the route and in the meantime we are working with our dedicated volunteers to cut back vegetation on the route.”