WHEELCHAIR users say road works in Richmond which should have given them better town centre access left them with a 4in kerb to negotiate.

Disability Action in Richmondshire has now won assurances from North Yorkshire County Council that a dropped kerb will be installed this weekend.

The authority confirmed that contractors were poised to work on Sunday to ensure wheelchairs could cross Rosemary Lane, near Simpson's florist, by next week.

The council has also agreed to install more dropped kerbs and a pedestrian island in Newbiggin at a later date.

Contractors spent four months widening pavements, block paving the road and creating a one-way system in Rosemary Lane. The road reopened last month, but disabled shoppers were angry to find they still could not travel easily from Finkle Street to Newbiggin, where many attend a day centre.

"One of the reasons DAIR was set up in 1997 was that wheelchair users could not get to Newbiggin from Finkle Street," said the charity's development worker, Linda Curran. "The county council put dropped kerbs all over the town and has done really well, but they have messed up on this one."

The charity had been willing to take legal action under the Disability Discrimination Act if necessary, but at a site meeting on Tuesday the council pledged the work would be done this weekend.

"Providing easy access and a safe place to cross should have been their primary reason for doing the work," said Coun Curran, who serves on the town and district councils.