The Oxford Mail has been inundated with calls from residents with pavement horror stories following our revelations yesterday (Friday) about the state of the county's carriageways.

A survey for the Department of Transport has shown that a third of the county's roads and pavements are dangerously below standard.

Pensioners Michael and Monica Rawlings claim the pathway outside their home in Sawpit Road, Blackbird Leys, has been deteriorating unchecked for 46 years, and that as countless utilities have dug and patched it up, the 200-yard stretch to the Balfour Road parade of shops, has become more uneven and dangerous.

-- So much so, that both of them have fallen and hurt themselves on the cracked concrete.

"We have lived here since 1959 and this stretch of pavement has never been resurfaced," said Mr Rawlings, 69.

"After the gas, the electric and cable have all dug it up, it has been left with 'mountains' followed by sunken dips and cracks which make it extremely dangerous for us and everyone else who uses it.

"I know myself how easy is is to take a tumble out there and it is frightening and leaves you very shaken up."

Mr Rawlings said the only other alternative to avoid the dangerous path is to walk on the road.

"But that's dangerous in itself," he said. "People drive fast down here and there aren't any speed bumps.

"After all this time of waiting, we've just about had a gut's full of the situation.

"I'm now walking with a stick, due to my arthritis and we're still left wondering what it takes to have this pavement resurfaced."

In Balfour Road, where Mr and Mrs Rawlings do their shopping, butcher Dave Pill has also been fighting a pavement battle.

"I have been a butcher here for 38 years and have been asking for the paving outside these shops to be mended for more than 10 years," said Mr Pill, 54.

"Last year, the city council wrote and told us that because of the new disabled act, we would have to install disabled access.

"Then, the next day, they told us not to bother as they were going to repave the whole parade and would bring the levels of the entrances of the shops up to pavement level. "We were told the budget had been agreed and that it would happen after the paving was done in Pegasus Road and all round that area.

"But then they said No, it's not going to happen, because we don't have the money any more."

Mr Pill said representatives of the city council attended a residents and tenants association meeting and confirmed the repairs, which could cost £25,000, were no longer possible.

"Recent letters say everything is still on hold," said Mr Pill. "Meanwhile we have dozens of dangerous paving slabs, which people regularly trip over.

"Even the delivery vans have to swing around to avoid them, because if they go over them they could lose their loads."

Val Johnson, head of neighbourhood renewal at Oxford City Council said: "We are aware of resident's concerns about this paving and have been working hard to identify a budget to repave the area.

"I am confident that this issue will be resolved shortly."