FEARS have been voiced that Kings Langley High Street could soon resemble a patchwork quilt because of different types of paving slabs.

At its meeting on Tuesday, October 2, Kings Langley Parish Council expressed concern work carried out by a utility company outside Haverfield Surgery in the High Street had resulted in broken paving slabs being replaced with the wrong ones.

The councillors said since the work had began, it had been one mistake after another.

After the meeting parish council vice chairman Mr Steve Cox said: "The county council recommended we have paving slabs rather than Tarmac and then someone takes the paving slabs from the side of road before they are put down.

"The electricity workers put them up by the side of the road and someone must have seen them and thought 'they will be good for my rockery'."

He said the new slabs fitted, but were the wrong size and texture.

He said: "If we carry on like we are we shall have a patchwork, which would not be a desired effect because this is a conservation area after all.

A Hertfordshire County Council spokesman said utility companies could confer with it to make sure the correct materials are used, but they were not bound to.

The spokesman said: "The ones paving slabs that are there are quite hard to get hold of.

"We're going to get an inspector to find out if they are the wrong ones and, if they are, it is up to the utility companies to get them changed.

"We sent an inspector along on Tuesday, October 9, and the ones put down by the electricity company were not the right ones, but the closest they could find.

"The problem is that they are a specific type and they are having problems finding a match. So they have put them in for the time being while they are hunting for the right ones.

"We haven't got any ourselves. If we were having to do this we would have the same problem tracking them down because they are not commercially available."

October 29, 2001 15:47

Alex Hill