PEDESTRIANS in Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross will be among the first to see pavement improvements after the council announced a £2.5m county-wide resurfacing project over the next six months.

County Councillors have identified 49 locations for the footway treatment programme between now and March, including Castle Street in High Wycombe and Chapel Street in Marlow.

And among the first to be worked on are Packhorse Road in Gerrards Cross and Burkes Road in Beaconsfield, with work beginning this week.

The move has been welcomed by the Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS).

BuDS Chair of Trustees, Andrew Clark, said: “We are pleased that Transport for Bucks has started a programme to maintain Bucks footways.

“People in Bucks with a mobility impairment or who use a wheelchair are frequently disabled by poor pavement surfaces and lack of dropped kerbs, and so this programme is really important in giving disabled residents the same freedom and independence as everyone else.”

When council budgets were set earlier this year, members agreed substantial investment was required to stop pavements deteriorating.

They agreed to earmark £1.7m for work during 2014/15, with additional money each year for the next three years.

Since this announcement the budget for footway works in 2014/15 has been increased to £2.5m.

Pavements prioritised for treatment have been chosen by county councillors, each councillor nominating two sites in their division for inclusion in a rolling programme of work in the next two years.

More information on the 2014/15 Footway Treatment Programme including locations of works, can be found at: http://www.transportforbucks.net/Roadworks-Centre/Schemes-and-projects/Our-schemes-and-projects/Footway-Treatment-Programme.aspx