COLCHESTER’S High Steward Sir Bob Russell has called for action to be taken to improve a new piece of pavement which he has described as a “potential death trap”.

The new pavement and kerb have been installed near the entrance to the London-bound side of Colchester North Station.

But the pavement has been constructed to go round a drain leaving what former Colchester MP Sir Bob has described as a “sunken gap”.

Sir Bob raised his concerns about the dip in the line of the pavement and says it is a safety hazard.

He said: “A blind person or someone in a wheelchair or a parent pushing a pram would not necessarily see the gap in the pavement which had kerbs identical to where it adjoined the highway.

“There is also, of course, the real danger when it is dark – or people chatting or rushing to catch a train – of not noticing there is an area of pavement which is level with the surface of the road and not level with the rest of the pavement.”

He added: “It is a ludicrous piece of highway engineering which is putting people at risk.

“Someone taking a tumble could so easily break a leg or an arm or if they fell badly could hit the pavement with the prospect of life-threatening head injuries.”

Sir Bob urged Abellio Greater Anglia to take action to bring the pavement to the same level.

A spokesperson for the company said work to improve the layout of the pavement was already in hand.

She said: “We have recently widened the paving outside the south side of Colchester station which will provide a larger sheltered area for passengers.

“There are two sections which curve in which are due to be painted in yellow to highlight the change in kerb line to passengers.

“Safety of passengers, whether at stations or on our trains, is one of our top priorities.

“These sections have been cordoned off until the yellow painting is complete.

“This entrance to the station is well-used, particularly by cyclists and people with disabilities because it is step-free. Feedback from customers is that they like the larger paved area.”

The company recently won the £1.4 billion franchise from the Government to run rail services in the region for the next nine years.

The company’s planned improvements include introducing more than 1,040 new carriages and cutting journey times by an average of 10 per cent.