PAVEMENTS in Wellington are a danger to the elderly, says one pensioner who has recently moved to the town.

Barbara Hawker, 76, who lives in Russet Close, says she has seen two elderly men and a child left bleeding at different times after falling in the High Street.

She feels the worst areas are between Boots and One Stop in the High Street and in South Street. She said that all the town car parks are full of potholes and criticised the state of the roads.

Barbara, who moved to Wellington last August after living in Minehead for 60 years, says she is active but has trouble with her knees, and is concerned for her own and other people’s safety.

“I don’t think the pavements are at all well put down around Wellington – like the roads, they’re all patchy,” said Barbara, whose husband was a builder. “This is what I can’t understand with Somerset – you go into Devon and the roads are superb. The rates here are shockingly high but where is the money going? It is a disgrace to a great little town.”

Barbara said she had read in the national press about councils paying out millions of pounds in compensation and wondered if anyone had made claims in Wellington.

The SlipTrip.com website says the most common causes of public liability claims are when people trip over uneven pavements, fall in potholes on public roads, slip on produce not cleaned up at supermarkets, and faulty equipment in playgrounds and sports centres. The most common incident is slipping on wet surfaces in a public place.

Workmen finished three weeks of work on Friday putting down paving slabs in Fore Street including in front of WH Smith and Superdrug.