UNEVEN pavements which have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds in compensation payouts for causing falls may be ripped up and replaced with asphalt.

A Freedom of Information Act request has revealed that Hampshire County Council has spent far more compensating people who have tripped over in the street in Andover than it has in nearby towns – £76,550 over three years.

Now it is considering whether to stop using paving stones in favour of asphalt, which it considers a safer surface.

The FoI request from resident Rickard Kidd, of Danegeld Close, Andover, revealed that the town’s uneven pavings cost the county council £31,411 in 2008/9, £28,169 in 2009/10 and £16,970 in 2010/11.

Comparable figures for Basingstoke, which is a much larger town, were £16,355, £6,750 and £5,974, while in Romsey the figures were £6,100, £3,000 and £7,397.