If you need to create access for vehicles to your home, and it involves crossing a pavement, it is essential to have a dropped kerb. Otherwise, if you drive on the pavement, the local council can pursue you for the cost of any damage to footpaths and pavements, and other things such as telecommunications, electricity or water pipes.

In any case, crossing a pavement with a vehicle in a place where the intersection has not been approved by the highway authority is against the law.

For the average home, you will want to drop five sections of pavement.

You need to seek permission from your local council or highway agency, if the Council owns the roads and paths. For help with your project, consider Tarmac Bristol at a site like Thornbury Surfacing, top suppliers of Tarmac Bristol.

If the road outside the property is a trunk road, the main road, you also need planning permission. You can find out this information by calling your local Council or highways department. You can also seek advice from the local planning department on applying for permission should you require it. You must send a picture of what you are proposing, including good quality Ordnance Survey site plans and plans showing the side of the road you want to install a dropped kerb.

You may not be granted permission with reasons including proximity to an intersection, bend or traffic lights. There may not be sufficient visibility to enable the safe use of the intersection of the pavement. Maybe there are obstacles, such as trees or street furniture, on the street.