FOR the third time in two weeks, someone has tripped up on loose paving slabs on Church Street in Kingsbridge.

Libby Adams, 79, tripped on a loose paving slab last Thursday at 9.43am, suffering two one inch cuts to her forehead.

Members of the public and traders from nearby shops provided support while she waited for assistance from paramedics.

The ambulance arrived after 35 minutes, and took Libby to South Hams hospital for further treatment.

Shaun Devitt, a holidaymaker from Australia who witnessed Libby’s fall, said: ‘We were driving down the road, and we saw her trip and fall.

‘She just went ‘whack’, and didn’t brace her fall. I think she has a damaged eye socket, along with pain in her leg where her knee landed.

‘The problem is, there are so many elderly people in this town, you’d think the council would sort it out.

‘It’s lucky that Brits aren’t as vicious Americans - otherwise they could be getting sued.’

Graham Smith, from Westbrook laundrettes said: ‘This is the third person who’s fallen over in two weeks.

‘When the council come, they repair one or two squares, and then just ignore the other broken slabs around them and leave.

‘It’s been getting really bad recently on this stretch of the pavement.

‘We’ve been here for 16 years, but it’s never been this bad.

‘The last person who fell was an old gentlemen, who had big cut on his head with blood gushing everywhere.’

Aimee Newman, commenting on the report on social media, said: ‘Get rid of the slabs and put in tarmac. This is getting beyond a joke.’

But Jamie Harris replied: ‘Let’s just cover the world in tarmac. Put escalators up forests, ramps up every step. I feel sorry for the poor lady ... but you can’t elderly proof a whole town.’

Rob McMahon wrote: ‘We really need to stop parking on the pavements, maybe putting up posts like in Plympton would work.’

In December last year, the Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill was debated in the House of Commons, but was rejected by the government.

The ban would have helped to free up pavements, particularly for blind people who can struggle to negotiate vehicles parked on pavements, but also help to protect paving slabs from being broken. This is thought to be the cause behind many of the damaged pavements in Kingsbridge.

Devon County Council are responsible for maintaining and repairing the pavements in the town, and have a policy of inspecting the footways in Church Street once every six months, while the pavements of Fore Street are inspected monthly.

A Devon County Council spokesman said: ‘The site on Church Street has been inspected and any loose slabs are due to be repaired within seven days.’