THE risks faced by local authorities who have to pay up when people get hurt are starkly illustrated today.

'No fee, no win' lawyers and a compensation culture which dictates that someone has to pay damages every time a person trips over have led Lancashire County Council to face a 50% increase in the excess on their insurance.

This means the council now has to pay the first £6million in personal injury claims - up from £4million last year.

And that's council taxpayers' money which would otherwise have been spent on schools, roads, care of the elderly or other services so many of us rely on.

It is only fair to expect that people who are badly injured as a result of gross negligence by a council - for instance by leaving a manhole uncovered - should receive a payment to make up for pain and suffering as well as lost earnings.

But when local authorities are afraid to remove snow and ice from pavements, for fear that they will be held liable for not doing a complete job if someone still manages to slip, commonsense seems to have disappeared.

Rising compensation claims are not solely the result of greedy lawyers and their clients.

Standards of road and pavement maintenance have declined with increased pressure on national and local government coffers and it's good that fear of claims has forced the county council to spend £500,000 a year on a squad which goes out looking for potential hazards.

But it is sad that, as Coun Tony Martin says: "Time used to be that people would actually report a damaged road. Now they just sue us."

And it is vital that any hint of fraud in a claim is pursued to the courts with vigour to deter everyone from wasting public time and money. Only then can the "compo culture" be dismantled.