AN officer has been appointed to mastermind delivery of the long-awaited Teign Estuary Trail.

The news was given by county council sustainable transport officer Zsolt Schuller to a Teignbridge Cycling Forum meeting at Newton Abbot.

A cycling and pedestrian off-road route alongside the Teign from Kingsteignton to Teignmouth has been proposed for nearly two decades, and a campaign was recently launched to encourage the county to make a start. A petition, supported by this newspaper, is expected to reach 6,000 signatures. Mr Schuller confirmed the authority was committed to the trail, but funding the £10 million plus cost would be a problem.