Broken and blocked pavements and a lack of crossings means people “take their lives in their hands” on a local road, it is claimed.

In recent months, a number of elderly people have fallen badly on the pavement of Albert Road, Buckhurst Hill, which has a number of retirement homes.

The pavement is chipped and broken, and has tripped a number of elderly people who use the road to get into town.

Commuters use the road as an unofficial car park for Buckhurst Hill underground station, with double yellow lines only partly covering the road.

Drivers parking on the pavement force people with mobility scooters and trolleys into the road, and many feel the traffic crossings in place change too quickly and do not leave time to cross properly.

Jilly Fox, 71, lives in Regency Lodge retirement home and she recently fell after tripping on uneven pavement.

She said: “I tripped on some rough, chipped part of pavement, something that should have been repaired or flattened out.

“We pay our taxes, I know I am disabled but I pay my council tax and they still leave the road as it is.

“The people who park on the pavements, it is not their fault, they have to get somewhere.

“You take your life in your hands on the roads.”

Many living in the home feel they have been ignored by Essex County Council, which has a responsibility for road safety.

Helen Pescott, 72, fell badly in Albert Road on January 22.

She said: “There is a manhole cover with a little lip and I must have caught my foot on that.

“I smashed my face, my glasses, my cheek bone, tooth, cut my lip.

“My face was all bloody from my nose, the lip and my teeth.

“I looked like a horror film, I wrote the council but got no reply.”

Tom Benfield lives in Albert Road and he said elderly people were being ignored by the council.

He said: “They know that there is a high percentage of elderly people here as there are purpose built blocks flats for the elderly.

“What is shocking is that they have just re-surfaced the road junction here, but they have totally ignored the elderly pedestrians, it clearly shows their priorities are with cars and not people.

“The council has a duty of care to its residents and they blatantly refuse to uphold that duty, it is time the government started penalising councils who just take millions of pounds off people in rates charges and then refuse to undertake their community obligations.”

The complaints come as it has just been announced that £120,000 of funding designated for roads in the district has not been spent, and will be redistributed to Epping Forest District Council.