PROTESTING residents hit by major road works have appealed to Leigh MP Andy Burnham to give the water workers a kick into gear.

They claim that despite assurances from United Utilities to Wigan Council leader Lord Smith that work on renewing a sewer at the Tamar would be completed as quickly as possible, not a workman was on site over the holiday period.

Businessman Glenn Hitchen called on the MP to exert pressure on the company to get a better level of service and customer care for constituents.

He said: "What is the point of starting work on Monday April 14 when they intended to work only four days before breaking for four days over the Easter holidays? Surely it would have been better to start work this week minimising the inconvenience and congestion.

"Since starting work they have neither worked any longer than a single shift and at times only two men have been working. Is it any wonder they have quoted nine weeks to renew a 100m stretch of sewer pipe? Local residents, workers and businesses in Leigh deserve a better service."

This week the water company apologised to families hit by the work which has closed Leigh Road between Smiths Lane and Ashby Grove and brought protests from motorists facing long detours and tail backs at Nel Pan Lane and Dangerous Corner.

A spokesman for United Utilities said it was imperative the job is completed to prevent flooding in the area.

He said: "There were few people on site at first because we were setting up. We had to dig trial holes to find the precise position of the structurally unsafe sewer.

Necessary job

"The appropriate number of people were there to do the necessary job before equipment was delivered to get on with the job.

"The old sewer is prone to blocking and that can cause serious problems like flooding. We need to fix it and can only apologise to anyone affected. It is an important job and we want to get it right.

"We have funded a temporary bus shuttle service to minimise disruption for the whole of the nine weeks.

"A meeting was set up for yesterday (Wednesday) with our contractors to discuss what action can be taken to move things along as quickly as possible."