Council apologises for 'pig's ear' repair on Hucknall road and pledges to put work right

Last April, the road hit the headlines when the ITV news featured it as one of the worst in England.

Via East Midlands, who look after Nottinghamshire’s highways on behalf of the council, sent workers to Brookside on January 14.

But their repair job has been described as ‘a pig’s ear’ by Coun Lee Waters (Ash Ind) who represents Hucknall South at County Hall, as well as Hucknall North on Ashfield District Council.

And he has now called for the county council to expedite the repair job he has made his number one priority.

Coun Waters, who led the fight to force the council to do a comprehensive review of the way they repair pavements and roads, said, “I am pleased that the ouncil came out to do some jobs – but honestly, it’s a pig’s ear and, frankly, embarrassing.

“They’ve simply chucked some ViaFix in a few holes and left the rest.

"They asked me to name my three priorities for resurfacing last year after being elected – I could have picked 100.

"My Ashfield Independent colleagues Dave Shaw and John Wilmott said the same.

"I eventually picked Brookside as my number one priority and this the job they did.

"It beggars belief that they have come for a few minutes and done another botched job – they shouldn’t have bothered.

"I want them to come back, apologise to Hucknall residents and do the full resurfacing job.”

In July, the Hucknall Ashfield Independent councillors were part of the team that the forced the council to a full review of the processes they used to fix highways.

This was after Nottinghamshire, and Hucknall in particular, was named the worst place in Britain for pot holes.

A dossier of Hucknall’s broken and roads was presented to the county and, as a result, the authority agreed to reduce its reliance on Viafix and invest in new technologies to improve the service.

Coun Waters has now asked that highway’s inspectors review the ‘botched’ job and expedite his request for a full resurfacing job on Brookside as soon as possible.

Coun Neil Clarke MBE (Con), chairman of the council’s transport & environment committee said: “I have seen the emergency repair work carried out on Brookside and it is not acceptable.

"In some cases it is necessary to carry out emergency repairs to make the highway safe before our operatives return to carry out more extensive repairs.

"But in this case the work carried out by a sub-contractor is unsatisfactory even as a temporary measure, and they will be re-doing the job at their own expense.”

“Nottinghamshire County Council has recently carried out a highways review where it was agreed as a matter of policy that we will be focusing on local estate roads carrying out more extensive repairs and re-surfacing on roads that are in particularly poor condition.

"Brookside is one of those roads scheduled for this work in the coming year, and we will be working to ensure that the end result is far more satisfactory for local residents and road users when completed.”