KINGSBRIDGE Town Council has joined forces with the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Chamber of Commerce to tackle the problem of the Fore Street pavements.

Anyone who has walked up Fore Street, especially on the right hand side, will know that the condition of the pavement is poor, with the small paving slabs often becoming loose or broken.

Now the town council and the chamber of commerce are gunning for people who park in loading bays, forcing heavy goods vehicles onto the pavement, and those who park on the pavements themselves, causing the damage.

Devon County Council, the highways authority, will only identify slabs as a safety defect if they are sticking up by more than 20mm, and Cllr Rufus Gilbert said at the full town council meeting on Tuesday night, that if you trip on something that it protruding by ‘less than their safe level, they’re [DCC] not liable’.

Martin Johnson, clerk to Kingsbridge Town Council, explained: ‘Fore Street itself is designated as a primary walking route so the pavement is inspected monthly by the authority, and twice monthly during June, July and August, to identify such defects.

‘Such defective slabs used to be lifted and replaced with tarmac giving the whole length of the pavement a dreadful ‘patchwork quilt’ effect. So while aesthetically the pavement is in a better condition today safety-wise it is not.

‘Indeed, several people have fallen where the trip has been less than the designated intervention level above.’

The council and the chamber have got together and have come up with five options to remedy the situation.

Read more in the Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette