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A popular County Antrim coastal path will remain closed to the public until December 2019 at the earliest, after an engineers' report found that it was at risk of collapsing.

The Blackhead Path in Whitehead was closed earlier this month.

Further subsidence was observed following a period of heavy rain.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council told a public meeting on Thursday it is working to fully restore and re-open the path.

'Significant sum'

The council's director of operations, Philip Thompson, outlined its plans for remedial works at the site.

"We want to get the path open as soon as possible ourselves and once we go through the regulatory process we obviously then have to go through the procurement process," he added.

"We are spending a significant sum of money here, local ratepayers' money, and we obviously need to go through a procurement process that will secure best value in terms of the work that will be completed.

"We would like to think that subject to full council approval and all the necessary regulatory approvals and procurement, we would hope to be on site by March of next year."

Residents at the meeting were told that if work starts by April 2019 then the first new section of path could be completed by December 2019.

The meeting was organised by the Blackhead Path Preservation Society, which has expressed concerns about the potential impact of the path's closure on the town.

'Lungs and heart'

Jo Nixon from the group said it wants to put pressure on the council to make sure the work is done.

She said she believed the council is "committed to fixing it" and its job is to "push them and to make sure that it's done as quickly as possible".

"It is a fantastic facility for Whitehead and for the greater population," she said.

"People are coming down to the Gobbins Path, but there is not much else once they've done that.

"There are people who walk that path every single day, it is the lungs and the heart of Whitehead."

A recent inspection report found that the path path has moved 30cms in the last year and 17cms in the last month.

Large cracks have also been identified along the path wall indicating likely structural failure and possible collapse.