Council compensation pay outs decreasing

Rochdale Borough Council has paid out £2,662,018 to pedestrians who claim compensation for a tripping on its pavements. An average of £1,800 per claim has been paid out to 1,400 claimants who have injured themselves on the council’s pavements since 2003.

However, the figures reveal a falling trend in the amount of compensation awarded. The council puts the decrease down to regular inspection of footpaths to check for health and safety problems for pedestrians. Examples of such problems are raised pavements slabs, loose pavement slabs or even excessively dangerous pavements.

Rochdale Councils Highways manager, Terry Leedham stated that the reduction in figures was down to the newly introduced “regular inspection of roads and footpaths.”

He also stated the importance of the publics help in reporting potentially dangerous footpaths: “Where defects are found or reported to us by the public, assuming they meet the criteria for repair, we will remove any hazards to reduce the chance of a trip or fall happening.”