HUNDREDS of rush-hour commuters will be forced to use narrow pavement next to a busy road while a bridge is revamped.

Safety concerns have been raised ahead of work on the footbridge at Billericay railway station, found at the end of the town's High Street.

The bridge will be removed at the end of May. The improvement works are expected to take about four weeks.

As a temporary measure, commuters will have to walk along a slim pathway which has not been in use for more than 20 years.

Barry Miller, 48, of Hillhouse Drive, said: "They installed the wider footbridge so walkers didn't have to use the narrow pavement on the road bridge. If two lorries pass each other, one has to stray dangerously close to the low kerb and with the pavement packed with a trainload of people from the station, they will be literally rubbing shoulders with the traffic.

"Somebody was telling me one reason the footbridge was installed was because a person was killed on the road bridge."

Since the 1980s, bollards and a cobbled surface have prevented most pedestrians from using the old pavement on the road bridge.

Essex County Council says the essential work will make sure the footbridge reaches "maximum safety standards".

Norman Hume, the council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "We shall be relaying the footpath over the road bridge and marking a white line along the kerb to make the edge of the footway highly visible.

"We will also erect traffic management bollards in the road verge to create a visual barrier between the road and footway.

"These are temporary measures while the footbridge is being repaired, designed to maximise the safety of pedestrians."

On the night of Saturday, May 31, contractors plan to close nearby roads and will install temporary diversions while they remove the bridge in one piece.