CRACKED and hazardous pavements have cost Lancashire County Council more than £18million to repair over four years.

The authority is in the top 10 local authorities for spending on broken pavements with a report blaming cars parking illegally for the damage.

Statistics compiled by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association revealed that in excess of £1billion of public money has been spent on repairs by 400 local councils between 2006 and 2010.

LCC spent £18,759,000 whereas Hyndburn Council only paid out £17,332.40 – the sixth lowest figure of all those surveyed.

David Cowdrey, Guide Dogs’ head of public policy and campaigns, said: “We were staggered to discover how much councils are having to spend each year on repairing pavements and paying compensation claims, some of which is down to inconsiderate parking, a cost that could be easily avoided.

“Every single one of us is paying for this through our taxes.

“We’d like to see local authorities take action to stop illegal parking on pavements and invest the money back in to vital local services.”

Money paid out covers repairs and also payouts in compensation – £106million – to people who trip over poorly maintained pavements.

The charity also warned that poor pavements can stop visually impaired people leaving their homes and going to the shops.