SHARP new kerbstones on a busy high street have been shredding car tyres and making congestion worse, it is said.

Kirklees Council, began installing new kerbstones in Westgate, Honley, in April, at a cost of £500,000.

Martin Sykes, who owns Honley Pet and DIY Shop, says the stones have such sharp edges that they’ve already sliced dozens of tyres.

And he says the road is becoming blocked by motorists who have been parking further from the kerb to preserve their tyres.

Mr Sykes says that, so far, a lack of cash has prevented the council from chamfering the sharp edges.

He added: “We thought Westgate just need tarmacing.

“But they’ve put in these kerbstones and they are very, very sharp.

“They’re shredding tyres left, right and centre.

“The guy at Cafe Plus says five customers have had their tyres shredded in the last week.

“It’s happened to my customers, too. It’s affecting business tremendously.

“The ambulance station is up the road and if an ambulance catches a kerbstone at 50mph there would be one heck of an accident.

“I spoke to the contractors and they said they weren’t going to chamfer them.

“Kirklees Council said they will chamfer them, but the money isn’t available at present.

“How long is that going to take? Is there going to be an accident before then?

“ I think it’s very poor.

“People are now aware of how sharp the stones are and they’re parking away from the kerb.

“There are only half-width parking bays, so cars are sticking out.

“Also, you can just be driving down the road and you have to pull over. You don’t expect your tyres to be slashed.

“If you fell on your head on those stones you’d split it open,” added Mr SWykes

Clr Martyn Bolt, Kirklees Cabinet’s member responsible for highways said: “While we have laid these type of kerbs at several locations through Kirklees we have never experienced this sort of problem before.

“We are investigating the issues and have spoken to the quarry about putting a rounded edge on the kerbs.

“The scheme is continuing and we are trying to minimise disruption as much as possible through the work.

“There will be parking places available after the work has been completed. There were no official parking places before the work started.”