Renewed calls have been made by a Colne councillor for action to be taken on a potholed Foulridge ford.
Coun. Graham Waugh said he has been raising concerns with Lancashire County Council about the Cockhill Lane ford for the past two years.
The route was recently used as an alternative by frustrated drivers, when United Utilities repair works were taking place on the A56 at the start of the month.
Coun. Waugh said that drivers “were forced to try and find other ways out of the traffic jam”.
And due to the increase of traffic in the area, he is now arguing that the road “should be maintained” and is calling for LCC to “pull its finger out”. He added that work has not been previously carried out due to costs.
He said: “It is a real problem for any vehicle wanting to bypass Foulridge. Lorries have gone down, which never should have done. During the dry weather it could have been fixed very easily.”
But Alan Capstick, highways manager for Pendle, said that the ford is “unsuitable for large volumes of traffic”, and went on to state that LCC “would never direct traffic to use it as a part of a signed diversion”.
He added: “We would only make a diversion via A and B roads suitable for all traffic.
“People who know an area often choose to use smaller roads which are more direct if there’s a lengthier signed diversion, although this may cause some temporary problems depending on the volumes of local traffic.
“While it is not reasonably possible for us to change the fundamental nature of unclassified roads to carry more traffic we do our best to maintain them to a suitable standard and would encourage people to report potholes which may pose a risk so that we can prioritise repairs.”