The owners of a popular Hereford bookshop fear children are being put at risk by a ‘dangerous’ pavement leading up to their store’s entrance.
Duncan and Annette Cooper, owners of The Children’s Bookshelf, have called on Herefordshire Council to make safe the public pavement along Blueschool Street.
The pavement is in a poor state of repair with various types of surfaces which feature setts and slabs along with different levels.
But despite highways workers replacing a cracked slab and sweeping the area, they say there’s a real risk for children who could slip or trip up along the uneven surface.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen for people who walk along here,” Mr Cooper said.
Several parents and children have slipped or tripped up and Mrs Cooper said their own son had also fallen down outside the shop.
“The different levels make it tricky to walk across,” she said.
“And if children come running from the Old Market direction they can easily trip up.
“It can also get really slippy when the sap from the tree on the floor gets wet after rain,”
She said the trip hazard should be something relatively simple for the council to solve.
“Making the surface completely flat would solve the problem,” Mrs Cooper said.
“All it needs is to be like the pavement along the front of the council’s offices next door.”
Mrs Cooper said Hereford City Council had been very helpful but responsibility for the area falls on the county council.
She said access to the shop with a pushchair had also proven difficult until a large wooden barrel planter was moved.
“We plan to have some benches out the front of the shop and some blackboards for the children.
“But in its current state, we feel this would be pointless, and not really very pleasant.”
A Herefordshire Council spokesperson they had worked on some of the problems affecting the area.
“The area beside Blueschool Street has been inspected and all safety defects have been addressed,” he said.
“A cracked slab has been removed and replaced, and the area is cleaned and swept.”
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