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Households in Helmshore, Lancashire, paid to have their rural lane upgraded after it became littered with potholes in 2019. They were so large even council bin lorries refused to use it for access to the semi-detached homes and further four houses on a farm. 

The residents wrote to Lancashire County Council (LCC) to ask the authority to contribute to work because it uses the road for maintenance access to Helmshore Primary School field.

No response has yet been given despite the Tory-controlled authority using the road to access the school field to cut the grass, chop down trees and carry out grounds’ maintenance in the years since.

Keith Pilkington, who has lived on the road for 22 years, told Lancs Live: “The road was horrendous. It was the final straw for residents when the refuse wagon would not use it and the ten householders got together and had a meeting in a church.

“The church also uses the road for access, and contributed towards the work.”

The residents initially asked the council if it would adopt the road once the residents brought it up to standard, but were told because it was a cul-de-sac it would not.

Keith, a former solicitor who used to be a local government-articled clerk, said: “Three years we have been waiting and we have got nowhere. The council has allowed this to drag on and, in my opinion, I believe LCC think if they do nothing then we as residents will just go away.

“We have sorted the access out and paid for the road to be upgraded, all we ask is that because LCC is using it for vital access to the part of the field that the children from the primary school use and so needs to be maintained then they pay, like every other householder or landowner. I checked, and LCC received a budget of £881,413,000 this year. On its own website it says the authority has healthy reserves of £211 million – we only asked for £2,138.58 towards the cost.”

Former Lancashire County Councillor David Foxcroft and current County Councillor Samara Barnes have both tried unsuccessfully to get an answer from LCC. Coun Barnes said: “I spent quite a lot of time on this matter specifically and I hit a brick wall. This was a first for me having worked on something for seven to eight months.

“I have every sympathy with how the residents feel. They have tried so hard and put so much work into it, but have come to a dead end.”

A spokesperson for LCC said: “We understand the community group’s frustration with the time it has taken to resolve this matter, however we were not able to prioritise it during the pandemic. We are carrying out some legal checks in order to make a decision soon.”

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