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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kit Roberts

'I paid council £1,850 for dropped kerb but they left my drive an absolute mess'

A furious gas engineer has slammed the work carried out by council contractors after paying £1,850 for a dropped kerb outside his home.

Lee Townley paid for the work to be done outside his property in Norton Heights, Stoke-on-Trent and claims contractors have revisited the site four times to try and fix the shoddy job.

The 40-year-old has accused contractors of not using a spirit level, leaving big gaps, and chipping the kerb stones, StokeonTrent Live reports.

The issue has still not been resolved months after Lee applied to Stoke-on-Trent City Council for the work to be carried out.

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.

Lee accused contractors of not using a spirit level, leaving big gaps, and chipping the kerb stones (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)

“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 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 has complained to the council about the work (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)

Lee, who immediately complained to the council, 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.”

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is yet to make a statement regarding Lee's complaints.

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