PAVEMENTS through the centre of Newcastle Emlyn could be tarmaced in a bid to improve their poor condition.

The dangerous state of the footways along the high street has attracted criticism from the town council and recent repairs carried out by Carmarthenshire County Council have not been up to scratch, with some starting to crumble again already.

The damage has been caused by lorries and cars taking to the pavements to squeeze past one another.

Highways officials have again visited the town to look at the problem.

Cllr Hazel Evans said: “They had a walk round and agreed that something needs to be done.

“There is a rural initiative at the moment concentrating on 10 towns in the county and there may be some funds to do something.

“There was a suggestion that the pavements could be tarmaced. What are the feelings about that?”

Cllr Maureen Webley said she had been surprised to learn that although the town centre was a conservation area, the pavements were not included.

“The area around Market Square would not be included but the pavements need to be repaired again because they have done it so badly the first time,” she said.

Cllr Peter Lewis said there were already areas of tarmac pavement in the town which were lasting a lot better and not breaking up.

Cllr Odette Little said: “This would be a major operation and would cause major disruption to the town and businesses as you would have to rip up the existing pavements.”

Cllr Evans will keep the council updated on any developments.