Town hall bosses have been criticised over a decision to spend £1.4 million relaying cobbles in a historic market town – for health and safety reasons.

Lincolnshire County Council was criticized for spending taxpayers’ money on stones that were just 5cm thicker in Stamford.

The picturesque buildings of the market town are well-known. They were featured in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, starring Kiera Knightley in 2005. It was also used as the backdrop for The Da Vinci Code and Middlemarch in 1994.

Red Lion Square in Stamford, Lincolnshire, was covered in tarmac until 2008 when cobbles were laid at a cost of £1.5million. Now, the county council wants to spend £1.4million replacing them

Red Lion Square in Stamford, Lincolnshire, was covered in tarmac until 2008 when cobbles were laid at a cost of £1.5million. Now, the county council wants to spend £1.4million replacing them

The controversial issue of paving the high streets is not uncommon in the town. The local authority was once accused of making the Georgian town centre an ‘eyesore. They laid tarmac along High Street until 2008, when cobbles were put down.

Now just 13 years on, they are facing further anger after councillors voted to spend £1.4m on swapping 10cm thick stones for ones that are 15cm in Red Lion Square.

The council will spend the money as part a repair program that began last November in response to reports that people were tripping on uneven slabs. 

Edwin Timewell posted on Facebook: ‘Didn’t it cost about £1.5 million to lay them ? What a scandal. They need to be replaced after 13 years. They should be replaced. 

Kendal Mills said: “The really frustrating aspect of it all is that exactly this scenario had been predicted when the council insisted upon putting the “cobbles down” in the first place.” They absolutely refused to listen to opponents and simply wasted council tax payers’ money in what amounted to little more than a vanity project.’

Red Lion Square was tarmacked until it was resurfaced 13 years ago in a £1.5million project to improve access to the town centre.

18 of 20 councillors supported the return to asphalt in 2018.

However, on Tuesday night members of a Lincolnshire County Council highways Committee approved the plans to recobble that square.

Gloria Johnson, Stamford’s mayor angrily intervened after the decision was made and said: “Why don’t the Lincolnshire County Council ever listen to the town council?”

“We voted for tarmac. They said they would lay tarmac, but now they want stone setts.

“Why don’t they listen?” Why don’t they listen?

Stamford was described by Sir Walter Scott as 'the finest sight on the road between Edinburgh and London' and poet Sir John Betjeman dubbed it 'England's most attractive town'

Stamford was described by Sir Walter Scott as ‘the finest sight on the road between Edinburgh and London’ and poet Sir John Betjeman dubbed it ‘England’s most attractive town’

Dad-of-one Ben Rose, 48, a marketing executive from the town, said: ‘The whole thing has been a joke from the start.

‘First they wanted to tarmac the square and now they are spending this staggering amount on replacing them with cobbles which are just 5cm thicker.

‘All to appease the health and safety zealots. It’s just ridiculous.’

Shop worker Mary Vurlan, 37, added: ‘First they made the High Street an eyesore by laying down tarmac, now they are spending a million quid replacing cobbles.

‘It was originally tarmac, now its cobbles, then they wanted to go back to tarmac and now its back to cobbles again – its like the hokey cokey with these lot.

‘God knows how much time and money has been wasted on this over the years.’ 

The historic Lincolnshire market town was the first town in Britain to be given protected status as a conservation area in 1967, it is now a popular spot for TV and film locations

The historic Lincolnshire market town was the first town in Britain to be given protected status as a conservation area in 1967, it is now a popular spot for TV and film locations

Tory Councillor Richard Davies, Lincolnshire County Council’s executive member for highways, said ‘To save money, time and disruption in the future, we’ll be replacing the current stones with thicker setts and a stronger underground foundation.

‘This will not only make the surface more robust by preventing cracking and shifting of the stones, but also maintain the current aesthetic of the square and Stamford generally.

‘As with any other major improvement project, there will inevitably be some disruption on local roads once work is underway.

‘However, I want to assure residents and businesses that we’ll be doing our very best to keep traffic moving and to maintain access to all shops and businesses.

‘We will also work to ensure local roads are fully clear ahead of and during the 2022 Burghley Horse Trials.’

In 2018, the town had plans to tarmac over the cobbles, with 18 out of 20 councillors supporting the return to tarmac, but on Tuesday, the county council's highways committee opted to replace the cobbles

In 2018, the town had plans to tarmac over the cobbles, with 18 out of 20 councillors supporting the return to tarmac, but on Tuesday, the county council’s highways committee opted to replace the cobbles

Earlier in the meeting, resident, Mary Patrick, said she had fallen on the cobbles and threatened the council with a ‘no win, no fee’ claim if she ended up with a broken hip.

She said: ‘I am asking every councillor in this chamber who tried to get the square tarmacked to do something.’

Other residents reacted on social media where one commented: ‘I wonder if the council will ever listen to the people who they are supposed to listen to?’

Another added: ‘They have absolutely no interest in what the people of the town wants at all.’

A third put: ‘Why they ever chose to waste money replacing it with these cobbles, that have never been fit for purpose, is beyond me.’

Contractor Eurovia will carry out the work in a project that could take up to five months.

The historic Lincolnshire market town was the first town in Britain to be given protected status as a conservation area in 1967. 

Sir Walter Scott called Stamford ‘the most beautiful sight on the road between Edinburgh & London’, while Sir John Betjeman, a poet, described it as ‘England’s most attractive town’.