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Hole in road leaves residents puzzled
BEWILDERED neighbours are calling for answers after their road was dug up four weeks ago but no work carried out.
Residents of Grasmere Road in central Blackpool have been left baffled since hoarding was installed and part of the road dug up four weeks ago – and then nothing happened.
They claim it has left elderly and disabled people unable to park near their homes. And wheelchair users cannot pass the boarded-up area.
United Utilities started work to flush out a main water pipe but encountered problems and was forced to stop.
Sandra Cartmell, whose husband Alf is paralysed down his right side after a stroke, said: "My husband can only walk a few steps. He has a bus pick him up to go to the Highfield Centre, but at the moment, the bus can't stop outside the house because of the works.
"It has to stop in the middle in the road. It's dangerous. We can't seem to get answers."
Jimmy Hetherington, 50, whose mum Ethel, 89, also lives on Grasmere Road, added: "I've been ringing United Utilities and got nowhere.
They've taken the top surface of the road off and it's just been left.
"I would say 90 per cent of the people who live in the block of flats – where works are taking place outside – are elderly. It's making it difficult for wheelchairs and for elderly people to park near their own homes."
A United Utilities spokesman said: "We were installing fire hydrants to carry out work to flush out the main water pipe – to take place between now and September. But during the course of this work, we discovered a collapsed gulley, which was reported to the council."
A spokesman for Blackpool Council said it had been contacted by Balfour Beatty workers, who have been contracted by United Utilities.
He added: "We carried out an inspection and we were waiting for United Utilities to confirm it was not a collapsed drain. Now, we are carrying out further investigations to see if it's the gulley and then repairs will be carried out. It is expected this will happen fairly quickly."
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Weather for Blackpool
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
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