A replacement for a metal barrier that caused the death of a ten-year-old girl will be erected, according to the Ministry of Public Works.

A spokesman last month said the Ministry could not remove the barrier because it would allow people to speed down Tribe Road Number One in Southampton and come into conflict with users on the Railway Trail. However, the barrier was removed last week without any replacement, sparking further concern among area residents.

Asked about the lack of a replacement, a Ministry spokesman said: “The Ministry did not have the right parts or resources to carry out the works so in the interim the offending barrier was removed. An alternative solution will be placed when we can.”

Sidney Simmons, an area resident who campaigned for the barrier to be erected in the 1970s, said: “That’s not good enough. That’s not good enough at all. My thought is they shouldn’t have taken it down until they had something to replace it with.

“They need to put something in place until they get this replacement. Everybody is taking the short cut. They have got to put a barrier up before someone gets knocked down.”

The barrier had been put in place to prevent bicyclists and other motorists from using the path, but earlier this year Tiffanelle Pitcher-Francis died after striking the barrier while riding her bicycle. In response to a renewed plea from her family, Government last month announced plans to alter the barriers so that children couldn’t attempt to ride underneath the horizontal metal pipe.

With the barrier now removed, Mr Simmons said motorcyclists and cyclists have already returned to using the dangerous short cut, creating a risk to themselves and pedestrians who use the walkway.

“All throughout the day and even this morning, people were taking short cuts on their bicycles, going down the road,” he said. “If someone is coming down the hill at the wrong time they are going to hit another vehicle broadside and then they will get seriously injured. Or worse.

“I sympathise with the family that lost a loved one. I express my deepest condolences, but the fact remains that this is a Government tribe road. It’s not a bicycle path.”

He said a barrier at the top of the hill would not be sufficient, and so Government should consider either a differently designed barrier at the bottom of the hill, near where the original barrier was located, or in the middle of the path.

“I’m hoping that it’s not going to take long, but they should have had something in place,” he said.