Critics slam 'ugly' and expensive temporary social distancing pavement built to replace plastic barriers in historic Milton Keynes town

But many residents and businesses in Stony Stratford are still far from happy and have slammed the Tarmac stretch as ugly, expensive and out of character with the historic High Street.

The saga started last month when MK Council constructed a road narrowing and path widening scheme almost entirely out of orange and white plastic barriers and bollards, closing down some parking bays in the process.

Residents promptly slammed the scheme as resembling a "fairgorund racing track", while businesses bemoaned an immediate loss of trade. See the Citizen story here .

MK Council then agreed to come up with another solution to enable shoppers to keep their Covid-safe distance from each other.

This week contractors proudly unveiled the second walkway, which runs next to the town's traditional block paved pavement..

"Our roadworks to add temporary space on the High Street, Stony Stratford to help people social distance is almost complete... Time for a clean up of the nearby shop windows," announced MK Council on social media, while showing a contractor scrubbing away at a shopfront.

They added: "It's only a temporary measure in place of the red/white barriers."

The photos prompted another flood of criticism.

"I’m really embarrassed that we are spending so much money on this. Can’t people self-manage social distancing like adults?" said one resident.

Another said: "Looks atrocious. Doesn't even match with the rest of the pathway. No disabled parking now. This council is now discriminating."

A third wrote: "Utterly ridiculous and unnecessary. A total knee jerk reaction. A beautiful historic high street ruined. This will impact already struggling businesses, many of which are independent. Parking isn't plentiful in Stony, and people that have mobility difficulties often need to park or be dropped off in the high street. And don't get me started on the state of the roads and paths on other areas that need desperate attention."

Meanwhile businesses in Bletchley are still threatening to sue the council over loss of trade they claim has resulted from a similar social distancing scheme in Queensway, their main street.

Here, part of the street has been closed off to traffic while parking spaces have been lost in the effort to give shoppers more room to pass each other. This, coupled with major roadworks in the town, is having a drastic effect on trade and the town's traditional market, say the shop owners. See the Citizen story here .