Improvements to the Royal Hotel pinch-point in Beach Street will not be made after the town council refused to contribute £8,070 towards alterations.

Councillors voted seven to six in favour of rejecting the motion at last Monday’s full council meeting.

Conservative members said the funding should be put forward by Kent County Council, which is responsible for road safety, rather than themselves.

Labour councillor Mike Eddy said: “From my perspective, I am very disappointed. They have got more than enough money in their budget, which was left to them by the previous Labour administration – a reserve of £280,000 – but they cannot be bothered to find £8,000.”

The item came before the council after an incident on the bend in April 2014, when lay minister Paul Henderson, a pedestrian, was hit by a cyclist and flown by air ambulance to King’s College Hospital in London.

The accident prompted Deal and Walmer county councillors Mike Eddy and Eileen Rowbotham to use some of their members’ highways funding to make changes.

The pair commissioned an options report to investigate ways in which the road could be made safer.

The recommendations presented to councillors included improving the warning signs either side of the narrow part of the road and introducing a contrasting coloured surface to help highlight a change in the nature of the road, encouraging drivers to take more care.

The work would have cost an estimated £13,070 – £5,000 of which councillors Eddy and Rowbotham had agreed to pay.

Cllr Bob Frost (Con) said: “Once again, we are expected to pay for this when KCC are responsible for roads.”

Cllr Wayne Elliott (Con) said: “There have been two serious accidents there, but if we agree to this we could set a precedent.”

He listed similar safety problems in Golf Road, Dover Road and London Road.

Cllr Adrian Friend (Cons) said: “A great chunk of this will go to KCC. They’re getting us to raise our precept to fund their projects.”

Cllr Eddy (Lab) told the Mercury: “It’s very unfortunate that they have turned their backs on road safety when they’ve got lots of money in the kitty.

“We could have done something. It wouldn’t necessarily be the ultimate solution but it could have done something.”