Repairs to a wall which runs alongside one of the busiest pavements in Ross should be dealt with as a matter of urgency, a former County Councillor and Mayor of Ross said.

Mrs Joyce Thomas told the Ross Gazette that she is very concerned about the wall which is near to Chase Park and the Hole in the Wall.

She attended the Ross Town Council meeting on November 13th to raise the issue with Councillors and said she had already been in contact with Councillor Phil Cutter, who is both a Town and County Councillor.

Cllr Cutter said that the problem has arisen because the ownership of the wall cannot be traced.

He said, “The ‘ownership is silent’ and until that can be established we cannot do anything.”

Mrs Thomas said, “Several members of the public have brought the wall to my attention. A guard was placed around it about two years ago but the sandbags holding it in place are disintegrating and useless.”

She said if you look at the far side the cement has eroded and is extremely worrying, the wall rests on the pavement and could be very dangerous to passers by on a busy street, the footfall is immense.

She added, “I do not wish to scaremonger but it is a tragedy waiting to happen.”

She asked the Councillors what their responsibilities as Town and County Councillors are for public safety.

The Mayor, Cllr Nigel Gibbs said it was unlikely to be the responsibility of the Town Council.

Councillor Cutter said, “Building control from Herefordshire Council will inspect the wall within the next few days to check the general safety aspects, but we cannot do anything until we find out the ownership.”

Mrs Thomas replied, “This is not good enough, we cannot leave it, it has to be made safe.”

Cllr Cutter said a decision will be made after the inspection and added, “We do need to get a grip of a lot of situations like this in Ross.” He has recently arranged for the removal of some overhanging trees in the lane which runs alongside Sainsbury’s car park which were causing problems.