by Angela Cole
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk

More than 40 people have fallen over the newly-laid kerbs in Maidstone’s High Street and King Street, the Kent Messenger has revealed.
Since the granite was laid in the town centre as part of the £2m regeneration in May, we have reported on dozens of incidents of people tripping because they could not distinguish between the kerb and the road at the laybys and bus stops.
The problem had become bad enough that Maidstone council painted yellow lines on the kerbside last month, and has since painted black over the top.
Council bosses last week agreed to lay asphalt instead of the granite.

But a Freedom of Information request to the council has revealed that the number of people reporting falls to the authority between May and September was 42. And off those, eight required hospital treatment. But the numbers could be higher as not everyone who fell may have reported it.

One of those who fell, Tony Monk, of Coxheath, said: “These figures are only for reported incidents and it is extremely likely that the actual numbers are far higher than this."

Maidstone council has said that three professional health and safety audits were carried out and the kerbs were deemed safe.