A furore over footpaths is brewing in a South Lakeland village after taxpayers learned it could be nearly 10 years before decaying routes are repaired.

Arnside Parish Council is incensed by what it has branded a "virtual dereliction of duty" by Cumbria County Council in failing to maintain the village's public footpaths.

Parish councillors were angry to learn that if they took on any repairs to the paths on Station Field and the Common it would come out of their budget and could increase council tax.

The parish council is keen to take on responsibility for footpath maintenance to make sure the necessary work gets done but they were told no money would be available from CCC, other than the year when the parish falls within the maintenance cycle.

The parish clerk Peter Challenor said: "If the parish does carry out any repairs, it will have to come out of the precept, which will have to be increased, putting a greater burden on council tax payers.

"This could be construed as double taxation."

County and district councillor Ian Stewart said: "Do you know how many footpaths there are in the county? There are 8,718, that's 7,440.42km.

"Where there are major problems, that gets priority and this thing about double taxation: I'm sorry, but if they want an enhanced service, and that's what we are looking at, it should be paid for in the locality."

The potential delay in repairs came to light when the parish council received a letter from Cumbria County Council's interim chief executive John Harwood after they enquired about maintenance.

He wrote that repairs were intended to be once every five years, but added: "Due to budgetary constraints I am afraid this has slipped to eight or nine years."

Chairman Dave Willacy said he was expecting an outcry from the community, adding: "Someone has just visited me to complain about the footpath on Station Field."

He said an unrepaired trench stretched the width of the unlit path and the erosion of the path's surface meant large stones were becoming more and more prominent.

He said: "We had one complaint from a bloke who is poorly sighted complaining about boulders sticking up."

He added a gate that led from the Common to the road had been damaged and remained broken for six months, posing a risk that children or dogs could run out in front of traffic.