FOLLOWING a spate of people tripping up in Kingsbridge, the Gazette got in touch with Kingsbridge’s local representatives to ask what was being done to fix the pavements.

Julian Brazil, district and county councillor said: ‘Devon County Council have been carrying out works over the summer, and any money that’s left over - we will apply for so as to carry out works in Kingsbridge.

‘What’s happening here is happening in towns all over Devon, it’s nothing unique to Kingsbridge.

‘We need to find out how much it’s going to cost. I’ve got some money from my councillor’s fund ‘Investing in Devon’, and along with the town council, hopefully we can fix the pavements for the whole of Fore Street and Bridge Street.

‘At some point, we will introduce bollards to stop lorries parking on pavements on Fore Street.

‘This might be unpopular, but there’s a bypass of Fore Street on Cookworthy Road that can be used. And people need to weigh up having to wait for a lorry to unload for a couple of minutes, against an old lady tripping over.

‘I hope that before the end of the year, we can do something about this.

‘Long-term, we may have to to re-lay the pavement, which would fix the problem for about 20 years.

‘And the town council may need to set aside a sinking fund so in 20 years the work can be done again.

‘Due to the cut-backs, town and parish councils will have to look into doing more things like this.

‘But Kingsbridge Town Council have always been proactive and I’m sure will lead the way.’

As reported in this week’s paper, three people have tripped over on the same stretch of pavement on Church Street in the past two weeks.

Chris Povey, mayor of Kingsbridge said: ‘The important thing is the town council is hugely aware of this issue.

‘We’ve been lobbying Devon County Council for repairs for a considerable amount of time.

‘We’re aware of budget restraints, but we’re hoping to see the repairs carried out as soon as possible.

‘And we are keen to work with the county council to deliver improvements.

‘We’ve discussed putting some of the town council’s money aside if this is necessary.

‘We more than anyone want to see this matter resolved.

‘We’re looking at entering into the ‘High Street of the year’ competition, and this would involve looking at the street scene, including pavements.

‘It’s really important that if someone witnesses an incident, or trips up that they report it to the county council.

‘And people should remember, when people park in loading bays, it forces lorries onto pavements. The community needs to take responsibility here.

‘Our aim is to improve the environment - we see it as a number one priority.’

Damaged pavements can be reported on the Devon County Council website, at https://new.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/.