Dozens of red ribbons have been tied on a fence surrounding a giant sinkhole, which has closed the only road on a housing estate for nearly three years.

Exasperated families in Boatman Drive, in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, have not been able to park outside their homes due to the extensive damage to the road.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been locked in a dispute over the problem with developer Redrow Midlands and Severn Trent Water, and no steps have been taken to fix it since August 2019.

This means more than 50 residents have been competing for a handful of parking spots, which has caused ‘a lot of frustration’ in the neighbourhood.

The council has now written to say an investigation will be launched this month – but this is ‘too little, too late’, local Amjad Hussain has argued.

The 43-year-old said: ‘It has been over three years now and they have just been blaming each other.

‘It’s disgusting. At least we know something is being done about it now, but it’s just investigations, they’re not actually sorting it out. It’s just an investigation process.

‘I don’t know what they have been doing for the last three years. They’re not completing the work or doing the work, it’s just an investigation after three years.

‘It has caused a lot of problems for us. We just want it sorted so we can have access to our garages, access to the roads and get our parking spaces back.

‘It’s caused a lot of frustration between neighbours. We have to park elsewhere and one neighbour even called the police, saying someone shouldn’t be parked outside his house. It’s a nightmare.

‘Just the possibility of repairs doesn’t really give us much information at all. We feel let down.’

Mr Hussain revealed that the red ribbons started appearing on the fence around the sinkhole to draw attention to it after Christmas.

Another resident Kevin Zholl stressed it has been a ‘huge inconvenience’ and has even stopped him from buying a car.

Families could not get groceries delivered during the pandemic as it was ‘really inconvenient’ for drivers to park at the estate, he said.

The 41-year-old added: ‘I have worried about if there’s an emergency what would happen. I’ve contacted the council, but they say there’s nothing they can do.’

The estate was completed around 14 years ago, and according to Robert Wilson, managing director of Redrow Midlands, the drainage was inspected and became the responsibility of Seven Trent Water in 2008.

He told Stoke-on-Trent Live that the company has met with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Severn Trent Water, and will continue to participate in discussions to find a resolution.

But a spokesperson for Severn Trent insisted it is not responsible for the issues in the area.

They said: ‘We commissioned a survey that concludes it’s highly unlikely that our network is the cause of the subsidence – a survey we’re in the process of sharing with Stok.’

A spokesperson for the local authority confirmed letters were sent to affected households in December, and again last week, to update them on the investigation works that will be carried out shortly.

‘We understand the situation is immensely frustrating for residents’, they added.

Metro.co.uk has contacted Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Severn Trent Water and Redrow for a comment.

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