COUNCIL chiefs have been told the costly resurfacing of a busy road is their own fault – for failing to unblock drains.

Earnsdale Road, Darwen, is one of several streets in the town which is being improved in a £500,000 project by the borough council.

But Coun Dave Hollings has accused the council of ‘saving pennies only to spend tens of thousands of pounds later’.

He said the local authority had fai-led to respond to residents’ calls for more than a year to unblock drains on the road.

And he said the resultant flooding had eroded the road surface.

Council bosses said they were aware of the prob-lems and had already cleaned several gullies but would re-inspect the area.

Coun Hollings said five grates, which run in a 300-metre stretch from the Dingle House at the end of Shaftesbury Avenue to the Kiosk in Sunnyhurst Wood, regularly overflowed.

He said: “When it rains, the water can’t drain away and it ends up running in sheets down the road. This erodes the road surface.

“It is a dangerous situation whenever road erosion occurs.There will always be a problem in this area because of the leaves falling off the trees in the woods.

“The council is now having to spend tens of thousands of pounds resurfacing this road when it would have been a cheaper option to unblock the drains.”

Local resident Dave Horsefield said he had complained about the problem at least three times in the last 12 months, but nothing had been done.

He said: “They seem to do all the unblocking on Avondale but never these five grates.

“The water is washing away all the sealing on the curb stones and it’s not levelled up anymore. It’s very frustrating to complain last June and still be in the same situation now.”

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration and environment, said: “We are aware of problems in this area. We recently cleaned out several gullies on Earnsdale Road making necessary repairs. A water leak has also been repaired. We will, however, inspect the road and check the drainage again.”