WORRIED villagers claim their lives are being put at risk by a danger road leading to their homes.

Unadopted Stubbins Vale Road, the only access to the village of Strongstry in Rossendale, is in such a bad condition that taxi drivers refuse to travel along it and the ambulance service has expressed concerns about it.

It has been on Rossendale Council's list for private street works for years, but lack of funding has meant that the improvement scheme has never been authorised.

Now several residents are refusing to pay their council tax in protest at the state of the road and are demanding that the council takes action.

Mr Kevin Heap, of South Terrace, said: "It is terrible. I've lived here for 18 years and it has steadily got worse. If I order a taxi I have to walk to the end of the road because they won't drive down, and the ambulance service is worried about the state of the road. "There are puddles a foot deep, piles of rubble, and the drainage system is blocked to make matters worse. The road is so bad that cars have started to drive along the footpath which is dangerous for pedestrians.

"If you live on this street you can't have a decent car. I've bought an old Land Rover, but I've still had to pay for two new exhausts, and there are countless exhausts lying abandoned at the side of the road."

Mr Bernard Glenholme, director of accidents and emergency at Lancashire Ambulance Service, said: "The ambulance service does not like having to go down unadopted roads which are in bad condition. They are bad for our speed and uncomfortable for the patients."

Council bosses have confirmed that the road is at the top of the list for private street works, but that doesn't guarantee that any improvement scheme will get the go-ahead in the near future.

Philip Cunliffe, Rossendale's borough engineer, said: "As the road is unadopted it is entirely the responsibility of the residents. We now have the authority to put a scheme together which will have to be funded by the County Council, local businesses and residents.

"We will be consulting with residents and the County Council about the work and the costs involved in the near future, but if everyone does not agree then the scheme will have to be dropped."

Council workmen will be filling in the biggest holes in the road as a temporary measure in the next few weeks.

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