RESIDENTS are pushing for CCTV cameras to be put up in an underpass to make users feel safer.

Women using the underpass, in Lower Southend Road, Wickford, say they are worried about using it, with one claiming a suspicious man followed her home through it at the weekend.

The subway – the main way of crossing the busy road – also has flooding problems.

Riah Milne, 22, said she felt unsafe after being been followed through the underpass a several times on her way to her home in Wick Lane.

She added: “I absolutely hate walking through the underpass.

“I was walking up there at the weekend. I don’t finish work until 9pm and there was this big group and they were shouting and saying some really graphic things. Then a couple of them broke off and followed me through the underpass.

“I’m no runner, but I sprinted home. I think there needs to be CCTV in there and better lighting leading up to it. As you approach it, you’re in the dark.”

Miss Milne, an actress and make-up artist for horror films, added: “Maybe I should keep my zombie suit on from work, so people will leave me alone.

“I’m not the only victim.

People don’t feel safe going down there.”

Local people say cameras were supposed to have been put up nine years ago under of a planning deal with developer Bradgate Developments.

However, Bradgate director Glen Charters said: “There has been CCTV up and operating for the past two years.

“There’s a camera on the Riverside building which looks down to the subway. There were never any cameras allocated for inside the subway, only the entrance.”

Wickford North borough councillor Peter Holliman said: “The underpass has a chequered history and it seems nobody wants to take responsibility for it.

“We’ve had constant flooding over the years and when it is flooded, there is no way for people to get across the road, it’s dangerous and an accident waiting to happen.

“The condition of the subway is also a cause for concern and the lighting. When people get the last train home at Wickford, they can find themselves walking in the dark as there are no lights leading up to it.”