Susan Gilby, who has played baritone with the group for 12 years, fell and hurt her knees after tripping near the clocktower on North Road.

Two other band members also had a lucky escape later in the parade when they stumbled on the uneven road surface in the Market Place and almost fell.

Mrs Gilby said: "It was lucky I wasn't playing my instrument at the time because I could have knocked my teeth out."

She said her fall was caused by an uneven join where two sections of asphalt meet. As well as injuries to her knees, Mrs Gilby's instrument was also dented.

Market Place

But Mrs Gilby said it was the state of the roads around the market square that particularly annoyed her and she believes North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for maintaining them, should do something.

"The county council needs to get it repaired before someone has a nasty accident," she declared.

Her husband, Peter Gilby, secretary of Ripon City Band for 20 years, was also concerned about the message the poor road conditions sent to tourists and visitors.

"There are holes in the road and parts of it are subsiding. It doesn't show Ripon in a very good light," he said.

bad impression

The chairman of Ripon Taxi Association, Richard Fieldman, confirmed that tourists are leaving the city with a bad impression.

"We get them in the taxis every day and they say they cannot believe how far Ripon has gone downhill," he said. "The city council should be up in arms about it and getting something done."

County Coun Bernard Bateman said the county council was ready to carry out repairs to the roads around the market square but was holding back as it did not want to cause further traffic disruption and affect trade while Coltsgate Hill was closed for work on the new link road.

With Coltsgate Hill scheduled to be closed until December, Coun Bateman said it was likely road repairs on Market Place would be carried out after Christmas so festive trade was not affected.

But Mr Fieldman said the county council's approach to the problem was not good enough.

'daily accidents'

"What about the disruption to the people who are having accidents on a daily basis – is that not more important?" he asked.

"The other day a man carrying tins of paint tripped near the telephone boxes, went flying and cut his head on the side of my car.

"It's only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured."

Mr Fieldman said it was essential that the road was fixed quickly and suggested the council could schedule repair work to take place at night to avoid daytime disruption to businesses.

Coun Bateman said he would be raising the issue with Coun John Fort, cabinet member for highways.