The road to ruin!

Mr Wright has been ordered to appear in court because he can't afford to pay nearly £1,500 towards repairs to a road he is not able to use.

His daughter, Mrs Valerie Davies, told the Citizen how Fylde Borough Council sent her father a demand for £1,471 to pay for road repairs to Gracamy Avenue, Warton, the private road on which he lives.

When Mr Wright - who has had a hip replacement and suffers from asthma and bronchitis - said he was unable to pay, the council refused to drop the demand and said he had to put his case to Lytham Magistrates' Court on July 7.

Mrs Davies said: "It's absolutely ludicrous putting an old man through all this. I think its disgusting.

"The road is full of potholes and the majority of the residents do want to see it repaired, but not everyone can afford it."

Mrs Davies explained that at first when her father had objected, the council suggested he took out a second mortgage.

They then said, as a last resort, the money could be paid with interest whenever his house was sold.

Mrs Davies added: "My father won't even benefit from the repairs because he is wheelchair-bound and can't use the section of the road which they want to do up.

"In any case, there is talk of the council taking over the road, so I don't see why they can't pay to do it up."

Mr Dennis Hague, senior engineer at Fylde Borough Council, said: "This road is unadopted and so it is the responsibility of the residents to pay for the repairs.

"The majority of the residents are in favour of having this work done.

"I myself am not aware of any options open to someone who doesn't want to pay.

"If somebody doesn't want to pay, I would say attend the magistrates' court and put your case."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.