Sir – Roger Blackburn (Letter May 20) is right: many North Oxford pavements have been neglected for years.

Several years ago, I reported pavements in St Margaret’s Road as uneven, pot-holed and hence unsafe. The road is lined with tall lime trees, but for years the pavement damage caused by their roots was not repaired.

A council officer replied that pavements were no worse in St. Margaret’s Road than in other nearby streets. A few of the worst craters were patched but otherwise the pavements have deteriorated ever since. For mobility scooter users it must seem like a motocross track.

But how dare we suggest that money be spent on real pedestrian safety and mobility! Instead, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent blanketing Oxford with ineffective 20mph signs, removing useful bus stops and shelters from Queen Street and helping cyclists to ride on pavements.

In Rawlinson Road, replica Victorian paving blocks interrupt the pavement for each house’s driveway. I agree with Mr Blackburn that they are smart. However, in the cold weather they are dangerous. An invisible ice layer glazes them, whereas the asphalt of the rest of the pavement remains ice-free and safe.

The same happens on smooth granite setts that cross the pavements for a few driveways in Polstead and St Margaret’s roads.

In the freezing weather this winter, I slipped and fell heavily and painfully on both the granite setts and the paving blocks. For an older person with porous bones such an accident would be distressing and could cause serious injury. Fear of such dangers stops many elderly people from going out in cold weather.

All the streets to which Mr Blackburn and I refer are in a conservation area. Its historic character should be preserved, but not at the cost of pedestrian safety.

Hugh Jaeger Oxford