A DAB-HANDED DIY councillor who repaired a handrail on a public path says he is fed up of doing the council’s job for it.

Coun Peter Pinfield says Worcestershire County Council should replace a wooden handrail which runs along a steep stepped path near his home in St Peter’s Crescent, Droitwich.

However, the county council says it will not be replacing the rail and that it has only had one repair reported.

The path is well used by people, including older residents, walking between the Holloway and the crescent.

However, while one side of the path has a steel handrail, the other side’s rails are wooden and frequently smashed up, according to Coun Pinfield, who sits on Wychavon District Council.

He said: “They’re made of wood so they are kicked and sat on and invariably get smashed up by toe-rags on the way home from a night out.

“My concern is that someone will have a fall and having asked the council to replace the rails, that person will be able to claim against the council. We’ll have to settle using public money and that’s not good.”

Coun Pinfield says it is the fourth time he’s taken out his toolbox to repair the damaged rail in three years.

Having fixed it himself on Saturday, he found the rail broken again on Tuesday so he repaired it again.

He says he reports the damage to the council each time but gets sick of waiting for a repair or a sturdier steel replacement rail to match the other one.

Coun Pinfield reported the rail to the town council on Friday and it was passed to the county council on Monday, the same day he repaired it.

The county council said it had logged only one repair order for the rail – from last week – and said there was no record of any issue before then.

A spokesman said: “These repairs are electronically logged and we only have one such log for this rail.

“It was inspected and will be repaired within the month.”

She said repairs should be reported on 01905 765765.