Prestwich residents confused as road resurfaced around parked cars

Residents have been left baffled after workers resurfaced their street - around parked cars.

Neighbours came home to find the 'half-done' job on the road in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, after workers turned up, it is claimed, "as an afterthought".

Gravel was put down on Brandram Road a few days previous, but notices to remove cars from the street were also taken down, meaning residents believed they could park once more.

But they were caught unawares when the workers returned and put a sticky resin - liquid bitumen - on top of the gravel to hold it in place, avoiding the areas where cars were parked.

"We left the cars for two days and we went away Friday afternoon and it was still under the road and we came back an hour ago to this," Alicia McIntosh said.

"To be fair it doesn’t bother me that much. The most annoying bit is treading the stones into the house.

"I’ve seen it [tarmacking around cars] before around here. If they wanted us to move it we could’ve done that so they could do a proper job."

Many of the residents had moved their cars when prompted to do so by Bury Council, but when the notices were removed on Friday, 26 August, they brought them back onto the road as they thought the work was finished.

Another resident described it as ‘strange’ and ‘half-done’.

"There were notices on the posts for no parking,” she said. “I think everyone parked with a car did move them.

"They put the gravel/shail stuff down and then took the notices off so we all thought it was done. Then we came back and they had squirted this stuff on it.

"If it was all like that it would be great. It’s messy as well [the gravel] because it gets everywhere.

"It was a surprise because nobody knew this was going to happen. It was in the afternoon that it happened and I was out and I came back to it like that.

"If they left them notices up people would’ve moved their cars. It is strange, it just looks half done.

"The bit that is done looks good, if it was all like that it would be great. But it is not."

Residents say they are hopeful the workers will return to complete the job as there are other streets in the area undergoing the same treatment.

"This was an afterthought,” Stewart Lomas, 74, said. “They finished early and they decided to do the last hour here I think.

"I was away for two hours and I came back to this. I thought I was in the clear because they put the signs down.

"I was worried about the clippings because it’s a contract car I have, when I saw this coating I saw it got rid of the clippings which is good. I am not complaining about that.

"I think they are going to come and finish it. I am hoping so.

"It’s a half done job. Not fit for purpose.

"If the street was all done it would not look that bad. There are other streets that still need doing.

"Everyone likes the top coat but we just need it across the whole road. I think they were just filling the time they had here, it was not for cost cutting purposes I don’t think."

Bury Council has been approached for comment.