DURING the week before Christmas I reported to Bury Council that a street light opposite my house had been knocked down and smashed, with exposed electric wiring.

Within 24 hours, the broken lamp standard was removed and a new one erected. Needless to say I was impressed with this efficiency.

However, the lamp did not light and when I telephoned to report this, I was told that Bury Council was not allowed to connect the wiring - this had to be done by United Utilities, even though Bury has staff with the necessary expertise.

I was also told that, due to the holidays, it would be three to four weeks before the work could be completed.

After numerous telephone calls during January and February, and thanks to the intervention of Councillor Ann Garner, on Friday, February 18, a van arrived and two men dug a hole in the pavement.

A little while later, another van and two men came and, presumably, completed the connection, because that evening the lamp lit - but the hole in the pavement was not repaired.

Now, ten days later, the repair has still not been completed and the barriers around the disturbed pavement are a hazard to pedestrians and motorists alike.

If Bury Council could have done this work before Christmas, why on earth did it have to take more than two months for United Utilities to sub-contract the work, only for it not to have been completed?

If this is an example of the utter waste of money, no wonder the council tax is to be increased by almost five per cent.

ALAN HARRIS

PRESTWICH