A HIGHWAYS boss is investigating claims that a York pavement was left for months in a dangerous condition by City of York Council.

Peter Evely, head of network management at the city council, has also offered Dennis Pearson his sincere apologies for a lack of action in dealing with the pavement in Bull Lane, off Lawrence Street.

He ordered immediate repairs, which he said would be charged to local developers who were responsible for the pavement's condition.

But while the pavement was promptly barriered off, the repairs had still not been carried out by yesterday afternoon.

Mr Pearson told the Evening Press he had informed the council on July 1 about a number of problems in the area, including dangers posed to pedestrians through subsiding and uneven paving slabs.

He claimed an officer came out to inspect the paving slabs and agreed they needed attention, but no action was taken by the authority.

He said the pavement's condition had worsened over subsequent weeks, so slabs lifted and moved when trodden on.

Mr Pearson, the owner of Bull Lodge Guest House, said a woman had recently tripped on the pavement, and her husband had threatened to take action against the authority. He said he would support any such action.

He claimed other local problems which had not been addressed by the council included wheelie bins being left out in the street, causing potential health and safety concerns over traffic, vermin and other scavengers, and a poor road sign directing people into Bull Lane.

"I have still had no response on these issues from anyone at the council," he said.

Mr Pearson revealed that, after contacting Mr Evely in October, the officer had replied saying that, having seen his photograph of the paving slabs, he had felt he had to get personally involved, rather than relying on what he had been told by others.

Mr Evely said in an email that the principal highway maintenance engineer had visited the site to give him advice, and arrangements had subsequently been made for the repair to be carried out the following day by the council's Commercial Services organisation.

"I will be carrying out an internal investigation in the next few days into how we handled this issue with a view to understanding the sequence of events, who should have done what and how an incident such as this could be avoided in the future," he said.

"Please accept my sincere apologies and the apologies of the city council for the lack of action in this matter. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

Updated: 10:46 Thursday, November 03, 2005