Stockton Borough Council has defended its footpath maintenance regime, despite paying out more than £1 million in compensation to people injured in trips and falls on its pavements in the last five years.

Figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request made by the Liberal Democrats showed that local authorities in England paid out £82 million to settle compensation claims related to accidents caused by the poor condition of pavements between 2004 and 2009.

In Stockton, the council made 26 payments totalling £1.2 million – a significantly higher figure than in neighbouring areas, but well short of the £10.2 million paid by Leeds City Council.

The amount may rise, as Stockton Borough Council is still dealing with a further 67 compensation claims.

A council spokesman told the Darlington & Stockton Times that it had implemented a new pavement maintenance regime in order to reduce the number of accidents.

"That has resulted in a dramatic decrease in claims where compensation was made, from 15 claims in 2004-5 to only one in 2008-9," he said.