EYESORE railings which residents claimed were a blight on Bewdley Town Centre have finally been replaced.

Pat Jones, of Severnside North, said the railings were out of character to the other railings situated along the River Severn in Bewdley and were rusty. She had been battling for years for the railings to be replaced to match the others, and in February, new ones to match the others were put in place by the Environment Agency.

Originally, the railings had first been replaced in late 2006, by Worcestershire County Council, after Mrs Jones noticed the original railings were broken. She branded the original damaged railings as dangerous and feared they could lead to someone falling into the water if they were not repaired.

Mrs Jones said: “After nine years since reporting the original broken hand rail down to the river, the Environment Agency has replaced the old one with one that matches the rest of the railings.

“The rail that had been put in to replace the original broken one was nothing like the top railing and after only two years was red with rust.

“At last, some Bewdley residents are hoping that the town is getting back to being the attractive place it had been for years. In the last ten years, it has become a very neglected place.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We replaced the section of broken railings adjacent to the flood defence scheme along Severnside North, Bewdley.

“This was due to our concerns around health and safety to members of the public and river users. We are responsible for maintaining the flood defence scheme in Bewdley, the safety railings are the responsibility of the riparian owner and the local council.

“On this occasion we replaced the railings due to health and safety concerns and as a gesture of goodwill.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: “We were not involved in the replacing of the rails in Bewdley recently.

“The steps and railings were in good condition as they had previously been replaced by us in 2006 and they have not been broken since then.

“They were safe and structurally sound, but they did not match the others.

“The work going on recently was to make the railings look better.”