TRADERS are calling for urgent action to be taken over “dangerous” loose paving slabs in Braintree High Street.

They fear the concrete blocks could cause serious injury at the annual Christmas lights switch-on event in November.

Town Team chairman Liz Storey said: “It’s dangerous. Our concern is we are closing the High Street on November 29 and we want to make sure it’s safe for those who are going up there.

“We have got market stall going all the way up the High Street and a classic car show at the end.

Braintree Council is aware there is a problem but they are not responsible for it. We are asking people to contact Essex County Council highways authority and report it.

“The only way to get an answer is if lots of us actually bombard them.”

Business owners say filling in gaps with tarmac – which was done in some spots earlier this year – is not a long-term solution.

Natasha Pachent, of the High Street Barbers Shop, said: “You have only got to cross the road and you can fall. If you watch the buses go past, you see the whole slab move. It would be better to put a concrete road through, it’s a total bodge.

“There was an older lady who fell over, little kids are always falling down, so I run out and give them lollipops.

“It isn’t just one or two slabs in particular, it’s the whole lot of it.”