English councils have paid out more than £82 million in the last five years in compensation for injuries sustained by people tripping over on pavements. The figures came out because the Lib Dems requested the information as part of their Freedom of Information request, which over 90 separate councils in England responded to.

The highest amount of money paid out by any council in the last five years was £10.2 million, which was paid by Leeds City Council. Second place was awarded to Birmingham, who paid out £7.5 million, and then Liverpool who paid £5.5 million in compensation for pavement trips.

Tripping on pavements is very lucrative for personal injury lawyers as the average compensation payout in the last year was £11,426.

The top ten councils and their payouts for injuries caused by slips and trips on pavements is below:

Leeds City Council: £10,259,125
Birmingham City Council: £7,551,840
Liverpool City Council: £5,500,000
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council: £3,957,897
Southampton City Council: £2,994,100
Cambridgeshire County Council: £2,917,111
Bradford Metropolitan District Council: £2,594,281
Oldham Metropolitan District Council: £2,258,879
London Borough of Barnet Council: £1,791,827
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council: £1,597,030

Norman Baker, from the Lib Dems, added:

With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements.

Although some councils are investing heavily to improve their footways, others seem content to almost ignore pedestrians entirely.