Residents voice their fears over 'sub-standard' Droitwich footpaths - The Droitwich Standard

Residents voice their fears over 'sub-standard' Droitwich footpaths

Droitwich Editorial 28th May, 2015 Updated: 17th Oct, 2016   0

THE STATE of footpaths and roads in Droitwich has caused an uproar among residents in the town.

Following a story on the front page of the Standard a fortnight ago, we were inundated with complaints from people with similar concerns over the pavements in the Spa.

Among the spots residents reported issues with were the paths from Ledwych to Salwarpe Road, Clydesdale Road approaching the junction with Tagwell Road and the pavement on the Hanbury Road.

Other places which people were also concerned about included Tagwell Road from its junction with Primsland Way to Cockshute Hill, the footpath from St Peter’s Road across Lido Park to St Peter’s First School, the High Street and Farmers Way.




The main path from Droitwich Railway Station to the town centre and Leigh Grove were also reported as being hazardous.

In one letter, a resident called the town’s footpaths and roads ‘an absolute disgrace’ and even accused the council of not telling the truth about checking them.


One elderly woman claimed she was knocked unconscious after falling over a dip in the path on the High Street, putting her in hospital with a broken arm and nose and injured leg that needed bandaging.

She said, despite complaining to Worcestershire County Council, nothing was done and every time she went into Droitwich the paths and roads were still a ‘mess’ and people still fell over all the time.

Numerous residents said they agreed with Mr Duffy’s claims in the original article, with one labelling Droitwich’s paths and roads ‘a death trap’.

He said he had seen an elderly man fall over on a path and an ambulance had to be called to take him to hospital.

He added his wife also hurt herself badly after she tripped over a hole 15ins long, 9ins wide and one and a half inches deep in Farmers Court.

He said she had to be taken to hospital to have her leg bandaged up and then take three weeks off work because of it. Although, he added an accident solicitor did help them claim compensation from the council.

A Worcestershire County Council spokeswoman said: “As we have said before, the council does inspect roads and footpaths regularly.

“We have invested £800,000 on pothole repairs in the highway and the maintenance of our 3,299km of footway.”

She added residents could use the ‘report it’ part of the council’s website to notify them of problems instead of waiting for the inspection to take place, so it could be fixed sooner rather than later.

And she said the authority was anticipating improvements to the footways in the High Street following feedback and suggestions from residents as part of a public realm improvement scheme currently in development for the town centre.

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