A special team is being set up by Bradford Council to patrol the districts 1,000 miles of adopted roads and footpaths looking for broken paving stones, missing manhole covers, cracks, potholes and other defects which could put pedestrians and drivers in danger.

The move comes as Council officers predict the cost of compensation claims and increased price of insurance will land the authority with a £2 million bill by next March.

The unprecedented costs to the Council follow a £1 million bill last year and are blamed by officers partly on a "compensation" culture with some solicitors encouraging people to claim.

The authority's executive committee will be told by officers about the new team at its meeting next Tuesday and asked to adopt a code of practice for the safety inspections.

Today the move was welcomed by 69-year-old Anthony Jennings who fell heavily over a pavement outside City Hall last week. He said: "I have drawn attention to what happened to me simply to try to get something done about it. It is very serious when elderly people fall - I am glad the Council has been considering improvements."

The most heavily-used footpaths and those which are flagged will get top priority and the four team members will cover all of them by foot.

Council director of transportation, design and planning Alan Mainwairing will tell members the implementation of the code and rapid repairs will mean the Council can demonstrate the road and footpaths are kept to a reasonable standard.

Executive member for the environment Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said today: "Things need to be monitored in a much more structured way."

Mr Jennings, of Queensbury, cracked his nose and eye socket on flags as he walked to a bus stop.

He said: "One minute I was walking along with my shopping, the next I was falling. I put my hand out to break the fall, but that is bruised now.

"I don't know how it happened but when I looked the pavement was in a terrible state. It was really unlevel."

A Council spokesman said the city centre pavements were checked every month and they acted on problems from the public and city centre wardens.

He added: "We have received Mr Jennings' report about this incident and we are going out to inspect the pavement and carry out repairs which may be necessary."

The Council is also considering bringing in a private partner to help deal with the major problem of its ageing street lighting columns.

About 60 per cent of the street lights are older than their 30-year life span and officers have also warned councillors they could face more compensation claims if there was an accident.

The officers have been instructed by the Council to talk to the first few authorities considering putting cases to the Government for invitations to take part in private finance initiatives.

It would enable the authority to borrow funds and select a private partner to run and manage street lighting.