A FORMER Mayor of Warrington has expressed concerns over potholes on paths in Victoria Park.

Geoff Settle, who served as the town's first citizen in 2015/16, has branded repair jobs as an 'utter disgrace' – with a parkrun participant having fallen and injured herself during the summer as a result of the condition of the paths.

Warrington Borough Council workmen filled in potholes with compacted stones, but Mr Settle believes that the paths are still in a poor state.

He said: "Cars travelling to the allotments have already started to dislodge the filling and the holes have begun to fill with rainwater.

“Despite parkrun attracting more than 600 runners every weekend, the potholes are just as bad as they had been previously and you would not know that any work has taken place.

“Whoever did the work should be called back to do it properly and to a good standard or the council should get its money back, because it is an utter disgrace.”

The council said it was 'exploring funding opportunities' in order to bring the path up to scratch.

A spokesman said: “This section of roadway within Victoria Park was constructed during the 1950s to a standard suitable for limited traffic volumes.

“The gravel surface can only accommodate low levels of use before it deteriorates and potholes develop.

“This route is now used regularly for vehicle access to the allotments and for large numbers of runners as part of the weekly Parks Run.

“Repairs to the gravel pathways within Victoria Park are undertaken on an annual basis, and reactive repairs have also taken place during 2019 in January, April and August.

“These were to address localised problems, together with the recent reactive works to infill several deep potholes.

“Ideally, this section of path would be upgraded to a tarmac surface but this would require a significant capital investment.

“Officers are currently exploring funding opportunities to uplift the pathway to an appropriate standard for a multi user route which would link into existing networks through Blackbear Park.”