A WESTHOUGHTON councillor is calling for regular checks on footpaths in the town following complaints from people who have injured themselves in falls.

Cllr Janet Halliwell said that in the past few weeks she has dealt with two cases where people have been seriously injured.

One of them involved an 82-year-old woman who had to have stitches in her chin after falling in King Street. She had tripped over a flagstone that had broken in half.

Cllr Halliwell said that the woman complained to Bolton Council who are refusing to pay damages because it claims the footpath was in good order when it was inspected last October.

She said that Bolton Council has indicated that the footpaths are checked twice a year but asked the town council to write to the authority, demanding checks are carried out more frequently on footpaths with paving stones such as in Market Street, King Street, Church Street and Central Drive.

"If they don't repair the footpaths to a decent standard maybe we should have signs warning pedestrians that they are now entering a bumpy footpath zone," said Cllr Halliwell.

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