Homeowners who pay to have the kerb outside their house lowered have been reminded that the work must be approved by the council’s highway department- after one a Herts resident paid out over £1000 to an unlicensed individual.

Engineers from the council’s contractors have visited the site in the past week and the resident may now incur further costs for lowering the pavement in that manner

At present, local residents must have the appropriate fee for lowering their kerb estimated online - with costs ranging between £802 for a one metre slab of pavement and £1983 for a five metre-long kerb, with utilities such as street lighting and electrics also taken into account.

Last year, Herts County Council approved 155 kerb-dropping applications in St Albans and figures for January to September 2015 show 65 kerbs were lowered by county council contractors.

Terry Douris, county cabinet member for highways, said: “We want to remind residents that only the county council can create drop kerbs and build vehicle crossovers across the pavement or verge.

“People should be on their guard from anyone calling at their door and claiming to work for the county council or one of our contractors.

“Our officers would never call at your home to offer you a dropped kerb or carry out unplanned private works.

“If you have an illegal crossover installed you may have to pay for the work to be redone or even reinstate the old kerb if it does not meet the required standards.”