A town councillor has referred to a recent debate in the council chamber on the clearing of ice and snow from properties as "poorly informed."

At Tuesday night's meeting of Tenby Town Council, Clr. Mike Thorne made reference to a discussion at the previous meeting which had been sparked off by a letter from local resident Ann Rowell.

Mrs. Rowell had expressed concern that local businesses and householders were afraid to clear treacherous conditions outside their own properties in case they were held liable for an accident.

She suggested householders should be encouraged to follow the lead of many countries in Europe and clear their own properties.

However, Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter felt it should be left to the county council, as householders could leave themselves open to a legal threat.

Clr. Mike Thorne disagreed with the notion, and said it was a widely held myth that you could be liable for clearing outside your property.

Following the debate, a spokesperson for Pembrokeshire County Council told the Observer that householders needed to be careful when it came to clearing ice and snow from outside their properties, as it could leave them open to legal action if someone slipped.

At their meeting this week, Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain said that she hoped the advice from the county council reported in the Observer would clear up the matter.

Clr. Thorne, though, had sought his own legal advice on the issue in the meantime, and read from a report of a debate in the House of Lords on the matter and a barrister's opinion.

"This was a typically poorly-informed debate with a feeble resolution, for which we must all share responsibility, including myself. It was left up to the Tenby Observer to make enquiries of the county council, enquiries that we should have made either before or after the last meeting," said Clr. Thorne, who commented that sadly the county council's advice was also typically inadequate, cautious and conservative.

"The essence of both sources of advice is that if the householder makes the situation worse in any way, by, for example making the surface compact and icy, and there was an accident, then the householder could be liable.

"If, however, the householder does a proper job of completely clearing the area of pavement, puts down some grit or salt, and does not make it worse for an adjoining property owner by shovelling snow onto their property, then it is extremely unlikely that any liability would follow," he explained.

Clr. Thorne noted two further issues which he felt were worth reporting.

"The local authority has a responsibility to clear all of the highway, and that includes the pavements as well as the carriageway. And if they do not fulfil that duty, anyone may apply to the Magistrates Courts for an injunction of specific performance," he said.

"The other is that householders do have a responsibility to clear their own driveways, and if they fail to do so and there was an accident suffered by the postman or other caller, the householder could be liable.

"Clearly that is an onerous and worrying responsibility for the elderly and disabled in our community, and it is to be hoped that the more able-bodied amongst us would be able to help in this regard.

"This is an issue where it is to be hoped that all members of the community would exercise due diligence and a positive attitude to their neighbours," concluded Clr. Thorne.