AN Ilminster councillor likens the new widened pavements in Ditton Street to runways.' Cllr Gordon Childs told Ilminster Town Council last week he was appalled at the width of the pavements in Ditton Street, which is currently undergoing work to be-come a one-way street as part of the Tesco development.

He said: "We have pavements wider than the road. I just don't understand why that is.

"If someone breaks down in Ditton Street, the only way another car will be able to get by will be by going up on to the pavement.

"These pavements are like having runways down the side of the road."

But Cllr Tony Shire, Ilminster's Somerset County Coun-cil representative, told the meeting it was now policy to have wider pavements in one-way streets.

Deputy Mayor of Ilminster, Cllr Margaret Excell, said: "When the widening of the pavements in Ditton Street was first talked about five or six years ago, it was to help people with mobility scooters and mothers with prams."

And she added: "I think there will be a problem in Ditton Street with people parking to unload and load."

Cllr Shire said that cars would not be able to park on the pavements in Ditton Street once it was re-opened to traffic.