‘IT HAS BEEN EIGHT WEEKS SINCE THEY STARTED MESSING IT ALL UP’
Engineer’s fury after spending £1,850 to get his kerb dropped
GAS engineer Lee Townley has hit out at the workmanship of council contractors - after paying £1,850 for a dropped kerb outside his home.
The 40-year-old has accused contractors of not using a spirit level, leaving big gaps, and chipping the kerb stones.
And the issues have still not been resolved months after Lee applied to Stoke-on-trent City Council for the work to be carried out outside his Norton Heights home - despite contractors repeatedly returning to the site.
In total, Lee has had the council out four times as the issue rumbles on. Lee said: “I applied to have the kerb dropped after I moved into the property. I wanted the council to do it. They have to sign the paperwork off and it was about £400 or £500 just for the paperwork.
“I thought I’d go through the council because they can sign it off themselves and I haven’t got to worry about dodgy builders. I got the quote off them, it was about £1,850. It was expensive but I thought I’d just get it done.
“I sent them photos and eventually they came out. They dropped two lads off in a van with a saw and a wheelbarrow. They had no spirit level or anything. I came home from work, looked at it, and immediately put my spirit level on because I knew it was wrong straight away, I could just tell. “The gaps between the kerb stones weren’t cut straight, because it’s on a corner. The stones are shaped a certain degree. You cut them so they fit, because you can’t have edges round a circle.”
Lee immediately complained to the council. He says the council told him that they could not get their hands on curved stones - despite him finding the exact ones on the internet. He added: “They have come back out and left a big gap of tarmac, they didn’t tarmac the road.
“They came back to fill that in and instead of levelling the other kerb stones off they just cut the top off the original kerb stones which they hadn’t touched. They are having a laugh. They’ve been out four times so far. “I was given a start date of March. It has been about eight or nine weeks since they started messing it all up.”
The Sentinel has contacted the city council for a statement regarding Lee’s complaint.