DODGY drain covers around Pewsey have been labelled a tripping hazard by a resident fed up with seeing pavements unsafe to walk on.

Richard Giles, of Charlton St Peter, noticed that two cast iron drain covers had become exposed several weeks ago and expressed concerns that pedestrians could be have been injured during last weekend’s carnival celebrations if they were to hit the broken drain cover by accident at night.

Despite complaining to the council and his local Wiltshire councillor, and repair work being carried out, the gap in the pavement beside the A345 still remains.

The covers, located by the bridge over the River Avon on the A345 were fixed by the council in the lead-up to carnival week, however since the repair work, further damage has been caused by another lorry striking the covers, dislodging them and leaving them free to be tipped at an angle near the narrow pavement.

The two covers on the A345 Swan Road, near the Esso filling station, have been highlighted again to Wiltshire Council.

In the lead-up to Pewsey Carnival Mr Giles visited his local councillor during a parish council meeting to raise his concerns.

Mr Giles said: “There has been damage for many weeks, in fact it is a cast iron cover sticking up into the air. It is about eight inches in the air and for pedestrians in the dark this could be very dangerous and cause an accident.

“With Pewsey carnival taking place recently this could have hurt people.

“I asked for it to be officially noted at a parish council meeting as I was concerned and feel that should an accident occur Wiltshire Council are not only found to be to blame but criminally pursued.

“The clerk said that this had been brought to Wiltshire Council’s attention more than once before.

“At one stage it looked like it had been pushed back down by a member of the public but now it has already gone back to sticking up in the air.”

Pewsey councillor Jerry Kunkler confirmed that the matter was being dealt with by the highways department of Wiltshire Council.

He said: “Although they were fixed, another lorry has since driven over them again. The matter is in hand and will be dealt with.”

The busy road is often used by large lorries travelling through Pewsey and the pavements were busy on Saturday night during the carnival in the village.