27 people face £250,000 bill to repair potholes on their road

Locals are worried the roads will become too dangerous for bin collectors or post officers (Picture: BPM Media)

Frustrated residents may have to fork out £250,000 to fix ‘Britain’s worst road for potholes’ because the private street has not been taken control of by the council.

Lakewood Drive, in Barlaston, Staffordshire, acts as an access road to more than 200 homes. But it is covered in 30 potholes with one as dangerously deep as 25cm.

The road is unadopted – meaning it is not owned by any local authority – so residents may have to fit the bill for these potholes themselves.

Lakewood Drive is the only street in Barlaston that Staffordshire County Council did not adopt when properties, which used to house nearby Wedgwood factory workers, were sold to private buyers.

Resident Daniel Bentley, 23, said: ‘Over time these potholes have developed on one portion of the road. They got worse and worse.’

‘I’ve recorded plenty of people having to call for help. Once it rains heavily the potholes get flooded over and you can’t see them.

‘If you are new to the road you wouldn’t have a clue. There have been occasions where people have struck these and damaged their cars.

One of the 30 potholes on the private access road is 25cm deep (Picture: PA)

‘District nurses have had to call out rescue people who have taken them off the road. It’s dangerous. This must be Britain’s worst road for potholes.’

Now, the road is in such a state, 27 locals worry it will soon become too dangerous for the council to empty bins or for postmen and women to make deliveries, StokeonTrentLive reports.

When residents try to report the potholes on the council’s app, Lakewood Drive just comes up as a ‘private road’.

County Councillor David Williams, the cabinet member for highways, said: ‘The county council is not responsible for Lakewood Drive as it has been privately managed and maintained for many years.

‘The council is always willing to consider adopting a road to ensure its future maintenance, but, before that can happen, a majority of residents must be in favour.

‘Also, the road must be of a certain standard to ensure we are not expected to carry out any repair work for some time and therefore not an additional cost to Staffordshire taxpayers.’

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