Attempts to repair the pump track at a park in Falmouth have turned the facility into what has been described as a 'death trap.'

Local residents, and some councillors, are furious at a recent attempt to repair the pump track at Trescobeas Park in Falmouth by Falmouth Town Council.

According to several residents who live near the park, what should have been a simple case of taking out a few of the larger rocks protruding from the surface of the track ended up seeing the entire track covered in a layer of concrete.

Councillor David Saunby explained that the repairs were discussed in a town council meeting and several members advised that professional advice and quotes for the job should be sought, but this did not appear to have happened.

Cllr Saunby said: "We had a meeting about it and I said to them 'don't go doing it ourselves, let's get a proper track builder in to assess,' then I got a phone call saying 'David, they're down there working on the track.'

"Then I got a call on the Friday after they'd finished saying 'you better come and have a look at this,' so I went down on Saturday morning and I was horrified at what I saw.

"It was unbelievable, instead of dong a basic repair job where the problem areas were, they've tried covering the whole track.

"It's not fit for purpose anymore."

Cllr Alan Jewell said: "It wasn't as bad as that before they did it.

"They've put that down and wasted our tax payers' money.

"I asked the question on Monday, who gave them the nod to go ahead, but they wouldn't answer me.

"Someone's got to be accountable for their actions there.

"It's all coming apart, there are all these pebbles that are just rolling around, and it's a death trap."

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Mark Williams, Town Clerk for Falmouth Town Council said: "This was earmarked as work for next year, and Cllr Saunby asked if we could do some temporary repairs or renovations, and that temporary renovation has broken up, which is why it's been closed for the moment.

"We're looking at that, and there's a number of options, such as whether it stays in our programme for repair next year, or we look to bring that forward now given that the repair work has broken up.

"It was ridable, but now that repair work has broken up, which is why it's now un-ridable."

Falmouth Mayor, Steve Eva, said: "For the last few years, the council have been trying to catch up with maintenance on certain areas, so we came up with a four year plan, voted for by the council.

"The date for the Trescobeas project was from next May.

"But we can only do so much with the budget we charge people, therefore there was no money to do the track in this year's budget.

"A repair was done on the track and, to be honest with you, it hasn't done it any favours.

"The repair wasn't the brightest idea, but it was done with good intentions by someone who thought they were doing something right.

"One specialist has come down and said it's dangerous, and another has come down and said it's not dangerous."

In response to the 'death trap' allegation, Mr Eva said: "It's no more dangerous than it would be if you were riding on a pavement or a path.

"And, if it's that bad, maybe we should cover it up and make another use for that track."