Manhole left uncovered for eight weeks 'putting lives at risk'

The drain cover went missing from outside Burntwood Community Centre in Rugeley Road in January, leaving a three-foot deep hole in the middle of the road.

Eight weeks later it has still not been replaced, with council bosses opting to cordon off the area with sandbags, cones and A-frame warning signs.

But, according to community centre trustee Brian Harman, the obstruction has caused havoc for motorists and pedestrians.

The 74-year-old said the hole has forced community centre users to drive the wrong way into oncoming traffic to get off the car park, while pedestrians were forced to walk into the busy road to avoid the A-frame warning signs.

"It's an absolutely ludicrous situation," Mr Harman said. "The hole is causing problems for everyone using the road and the council don't appear to consider it to be important.

"It took them three weeks to come out and cordon it off. If I hadn't put some cones out during that time someone could have gone down it and got seriously injured or worse.

"People's lives are at risk here."

Mr Harman said he has contacted Staffordshire County Council on six occasions asking to get the manhole covered, but the authority's only response up to now has been an e-mail saying response times are seven days for urgent calls and 90 days for non-urgent calls.

"They obviously don't think a three-foot hole in the road is urgent," added Mr Harman.

"When the A-frames blew over on a windy night a few weeks back they sent someone over to put them back up. Why they couldn't just get him to bring a new manhole cover is beyond me."

Councillor Susan Woodward, who represents Burntwood North on Staffordshire County Council, has also joined the fight.

Burntwood Community Centre is open seven days a week and hosts dozens of events including an after-school club. Its car park is used by more than 2,000 vehicles each week.