Brent Council rejected a request from the borough’s Conservative Group to guarantee that all pavements in the area be repaired within the next 12 months.

Cllr Reg Colwill, leader of Brent Conservatives, suggested that the situation was so perilous that, every day, people are at risk of tripping over.

His motion, which was easily refused at Monday’s full council meeting, called for a clear schedule and action plan to be implemented over the next year.

It was supported “in principle” by several Labour councillors but was rejected on the basis that it was too simplistic and unrealistic to achieve.

“I feel that if we are going to support things that make changes to council policy, then we should probably have costs attached,” said Cllr Tom Miller.

Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell-Murray said she was “minded to support” the motion but that the timescale was “impossible”.

And Cllr Kana Naheerathan gave several examples of pavement issues in his Queensbury ward but said “politically” he could not support the request due to a lack of council funding.

Cllr Colwill disagreed that a more effective pavement strategy was being hampered by finances and urged the council to be more transparent.

He said: “The money is there is there’s a will to fix it. We should be looking after our residents and using the money to make sure they are safe.”

His plea was unsuccessful, however, and the motion was comfortably defeated.