No U-turn on pavement surface change

The leader of Southend Council, Daniel Cowan, says they took the decision to switch to tarmacadam four years ago

A council has said it would continue to patch up pavements rather than replacing slabs after seeing the number of accidents fall.

The leader of Southend Council, Daniel Cowan, said dense bituminous material - known as DBM - was 20% cheaper to use than replacing paving slabs, as well as easier to maintain.

Mr Cowan, the Labour councillor for the St Laurence ward, said DBM would still only be used "as and when needed".

However he added there were no plans to convert all pavements from slabs.

He told BBC Essex that the story had likely resurfaced because a colleague had called for the return of "like-for-like" pavement repairs.

The council’s cabinet heard on Monday that DBM material was easier to maintain than paving slabs, plus it was cheaper and quicker to replace.

Rachel Lee, the policy and research manager at the Living Streets charity, said its report from 2023 estimated that trips and falls could be costing taxpayers as much as half a billion pounds a year in England.

She added that DBM "may not look as attractive... but ultimately what you want is safety first."