George Parsonage, a volunteer officer with the Glasgow Humane Society, has pinpointed cracks and the deterioration of stonework at several sections along the quay wall of the river.

The 69-year-old identified an area on the north bank of the Clyde at Lancefield Quay which has stonework in need of repair, as well as cracks in the quay wall near the Glasgow Bridge, at the foot of Jamaica Street.

He will now pass his findings on to Glasgow City Council.

He said: "These quay walls go right back to early Victorian times. Maybe they are just old.

"The wall at Custom House Quay is being repaired just now.

"There are a lot of sections getting done just now."

Mr Parson-age said there have been previous river-bank collapses at the tidal weir at the Albert Bridge near Glasgow Green, and at Lancefield Quay at Elliot Street.

He added: "They were not as bad as the section that has just gone, but it has happened before."

Resi-dents near the coll-apsed section of walkway expressed fears for their homes after the quay wall, grass verge and pathway crumbled into the river just west of the Kingston Bridge.

The white riverside fencing is broken and the quay wall remains cracked and bulging.

Days earlier, the same section of path was cordoned off by the council after reports it had become unstable.

A local contractor has been appointed to carry out an investigation into the failure of the wall, which is part of the route that connects the city centre with the SECC.

Mr Parsonage, who has received a clutch of awards and medals for his bravery, including an MBE in 1999, added: "They have got it well blocked-off.

"They have got fencing there and obviously they are taking it very seriously.

"I think we've been quite lucky that nobody was on it.

"It's quite a big bit that's moved. It's going to cost a lot of money to fix."

Mr Parsonage, who has pulled more than 1500 people from the Clyde, first expressed his concerns over the safety of sections of river banking as far back as June 1998.

Since his river rescue efforts were halted in 2005 over health and safety concerns, he now concentrates on education and accident prevention.

Work was carried out to strengthen the quay walls on both sides of the river when walkways, lampposts and paving stones were installed in 2007/08.

Further strengthening work was carried out on a section of the quay wall for the construction of the Riverside Museum.

maureen.ellis@ eveningtimes.co.uk