JUST two years after a £2m scheme of block paving was laid in Ripon Market Place the concrete is breaking up.

Minster Road, Kirkgate and Duck Hill are also affected by the premature failure where work was carried out in 1999, said North Yorkshire County Council.

The scheme attracted grants from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, which contributed 75 per cent of the costs. It was all part of a facelift for the market city.

A council report says failure of the concrete block paving could be attributed to its design, construction or a combination of both.

Consultants for the scheme have appointed an independent technical advisor to establish causes of the failure - and to produce a remedy.

Meanwhile, regular inspections are being carried out in the Market Place with temporary repairs to areas becoming a safety hazard.

Repair work is likely to shut Minster Road, alongside the cathedral, for ten weeks.

But work in the Market Place - part of which is now a piazza, the rest for parking - can only be carried out on specific days of the week.

County highway chief Mike Moore is recommending that a programme for remedial works should start following consultation with the city council chamber and the cathedral. So far no price tag has been put on repairs.