COUNCILLORS are calling for work to maintain the cobbles in a historic market square amid fears delaying action could compromise safety and leave taxpayers facing a large bill.

Thirsk Town Council heard some of the cobbles in the Market Place had come loose, although it remains unclear whether the loose cobbles included any of the hundreds of thousands of stones relaid in a project in 2013 and 2014, which cost more than £150,000.

Councillor Freda Roberts urged Hambleton District Council, which owns the cobbled areas, to carry out repairs as soon as possible, "rather than wait 20 years and spend a vast amount of money".

The previous repairs scheme, which was first announced in 2009, suffered a number of delays, partly because the work needed to be carried out when weather conditions were relatively mild and damp, either from September to November, or from February through to May.

Councillor Derek Adamson, the Mayor of Thirsk, added that some work to mark parking places had never taken place since the cobbles project.

After the meeting, Hambleton District Council leader Councillor Mark Robson said the authority's inspectors would establish the scale of the issue and whether the loose cobbles were ones that had been recently relaid.

He said: "While we have spent a significant amount of money on the cobbles over a short period of time, we have a rolling programme for repairs and any remedial work will be done."