A HEREFORD visitor who broke her foot after tripping on the infamous Widemarsh Street kerb is calling for the pavement to be painted to avoid future accidents.

Ruth Davies, who lives near Knighton, suffered broken bones in her foot after falling over on the low pavement kerb on November 7 last year.

She has since written to Herefordshire Council and says she wants them to ‘sit up and take notice’ about the danger the kerb poses to pedestrians.

Ms Davies said: “I live 40 miles away from Hereford and I’ve had loads of people tell me they’ve tripped up.

“Shopkeepers in the area say it is a regular occurrence and that someone falls at least once a week because of the lack of marking to identify the offending dip in the pavement levels.

“I’m not interested in suing the council, I just want to make sure it’s safe for people.

“I’m in my 70s and consider myself quite agile but when elderly people fall they can do a lot of damage to themselves.”

Ms Davies says the pavement lip should be highlighted with something like bright yellow paint.

She added: “Balfour Beatty have written to me saying the kerb meets all legal requirements but too many people are falling over.

“I have written several letters to the council but the response has been very unsatisfactory.

“They advise that the current state of the pavement is up to recommended standards.

“But when I went to Hereford Hospital to see the specialist about my injury he said he’d seen to loads of people who had tripped up like me.”

A council spokesperson said they were sorry to hear of Ms Davies’ fall and explained that the types of kerb used on Widemarsh Street have been used throughout the UK.

She said: “The refurbishment scheme design in 2011 was developed following extensive consultation and is compliant with current legislation and guidance.

“The low kerbs used are designed to assist disability groups such as the visually impaired who need a kerb  to feel the edge of the road with a cane, or for a guide dog to register there is a road edge.

“The type of kerbs in Widemarsh Street have been used extensively in similar public realm schemes across the country.

“The Widemarsh scheme has been audited and reviewed following completion of the works and these concluded that the scheme is satisfactory.”