Dozens of neighbours in Edgware have signed a petition calling for “dangerous” pavements to be repaired.

The plea for Barnet Council to repave the footways in Orchard Drive came after a resident fell and suffered “terrible injuries” earlier this year.

It calls for the pavements to be restored to their “original status and conditions, in line with the original characteristics of the road”.

The petition gained 71 signatures and was presented to the council’s west area committee on Monday. Lead petitioner Uri Solnitzky told the meeting he witnessed the accident in April and was “terrified” it could have been him. He said there were three blocks of flats at the top of the drive with elderly residents, as well as a care home for disabled, elderly residents.

Uri criticised council officers’ response to a complaint he made about the pavements and warned that the town hall’s practice of selecting one road from each ward per year to be renewed could leave them waiting “147 years” for a “full pavement renewal”.

He added: “It is clearly negligence not to inspect and repair pavements more frequently than twelve months apart”.

Cris Tavares, a liaison officer at the council, said the authority had carried out “about eleven or twelve repairs” in Orchard Drive since April. She said the request for a full repave would be determined by the council’s NRP [network recovery plan], an investment programme covering the whole of the borough’s highways network.

Cris added that she recommended referring the petition to the director of highways so that when the prioritisations for the NRP are made for next year, Orchard Drive will be presented to ward members “as a consideration to be taken forward”. The proposal was then agreed by the committee.