Sir — Last week it was made public that Oxfordshire County Council is having to compensate pedestrians injured on unsafe pavements at an average rate of £1,600 a week. I was in communication with the council on the subject of dangerous pavements some months ago and you were kind enough to publish my letter about the matter.

Pavements in St Aldate’s are in such poor condition that I find the safest way to proceed into the city centre from the Abingdon Road is to walk in the road close to the kerb and face oncoming traffic. Motorists clearly approve as they frequently wave to me, quite vigorously at times, and occasionally show their support with the traditional clenched fist gesture of solidarity, which I always reciprocate.

The elderly are most at risk from the unsafe pavements and, as the road is so much more pedestrian-friendly, perhaps a partial solution would be to install an “elderly pedestrians” lane in the road adjacent to the kerb.

It could be painted a vivid yet darkish blue (as we are Oxford) with the silhouette of a bent figure clutching a walking stick picked out in white at intervals. Of course, the intermittent short stretches of cycle lanes would have to go but cyclists could simply continue to use road and pavement indiscriminately as at present.

A further suggestion is that the council should recognise that it has a duty to ensure the safety of its pedestrians by replacing the missing, broken, cracked, misaligned, wobbly paving slabs and disintegrating cobble stones with a safe, level, hazard-free surface which we could all use with confidence. But it is clear that council considers this to be by far the most ridiculous of my suggestions.

David Tuohy Oxford