A hole lot of bother

COUNCILLOR Roger Hindle has been left scratching his head on how long it takes for a hole to be filled in.

He has been calling on Oldham Council to carry out repairs on a Clarksfield hole since August 1.

Since then, people have been carelessly throwing in cigarette stubs and dumping general rubbish.

The local Liberal Democrat reported the problem on the junction of Hanson Street and Hillside Avenue to the highways’ department after a section of the road collapsed.

He was left impressed by the initial response.

“I had an email within three hours from highways officers to say that they had been out, placed protective barriers around the hole and had passed the query on to United Utilities, whom they believed were responsible.

“The following morning I received another email saying it was not United Utilities’ problem and highways had ordered the fault to be inspected and repair work to be done.

“Since then nothing more seems to have happened.”

The councillor claims it is causing difficulty for drivers to navigate between parked cars and the barriers.

Oldham Council began work on the problem on Wednesday. A spokesman said the work had to be planned into a work schedule because it was subsidence rather than a pothole, and needed greater attention.