Council contractors have been branded ‘unbelievable’after asphalting around a parked car.
Workmen were due to resurface the Market Street car park in Whitworth last week.
But when the arrived they found one driver had ignored signs telling people not to park there.
But undeterred they carried on the with the job anyway – and left the patch around the Ford Focus uncovered.
Glynn Normoyle was in Whitworth Post Office directly opposite when the work was being carried out.
He said: "When I realised they were resurfacing around the parked car, I couldn’t believe it.
"The workmen spent a long time on the phone when they first arrived - I suppose they were trying to find out who the car belonged to and what they should do next."
A sign warning drivers not to park went up at 8am on Monday February 14, with workmen arriving two days later.
Whitworth mayor, Coun David Chorlton, who owns Market Street plumbing and bathroom business UBS, said: "A few people told me about it when they came in the shop.
"They found it highly amusing and I thought they were winding me up, so I went to have a look.
"It was like a scene from You’ve Been Framed. But, the following day they returned and marked the car park out, and they have done a fantastic job."
A spokesman for Rossendale council said the remainder of the car park would be resurfaced as soon as possible. He added: "Unfortunately, one car remained in place when the contractors arrived on Wednesday to carry out the resurfacing work.
"The remaining part of the car park will be done as soon as we can arrange it with the contractor. We are also considering resurfacing the access roads to the car park, although these are not owned by Rossendale council."
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Let's have it right here..............the owner/driver of the car had ample notice of the intended work, and should have shifted the car. Don't blame people who were doing the asphalting.
Why, therefore did the driver not remove his/her car in advance of the contractors' arriving.?
If the contractors had left without carrying out the work, to return on a subsequent date, the costs incurred would have been astronomical. It would have been easier to tow the vehicle away and complete the work.
It's not the council contractors that should be criticised, it's the inconsiderate driver of the car who prevented the completion of the work.
Any criticism should be directed to the car owner, not the council workers who were simply doing what we pay them to do.
Harry'smate.
Your comments are 100 percent correct. This inconsiderate motorist, should incur the cost of the Council's Contractors returning to complete the space that was occupied on their first visit.
Spot on , use the councils powers to apply for Notice To Owner then get them to pay for the cost of resiting all the equipment , manpower and cost to redo that around the car, i reckon it is a least 6 k to get that done , in time and machinery as they all would have to be rented for the day ..
I don't blame the driver. The council should be fixing potholes, not dancing around in car parks.
The car owner should'nt ave ignored the signs but the road surfaces will just ave to go back and redo what they missed won't do them any harm its a job and they get paid enough its not like they do anything else the state Rochdales roads are in!!...
Sorry, but this is the drivers fault for ignoring warnings that this work was to be carried out and therefore should be billed for the remedial work required to correct the road surface.
I would have had the car towed personally! Plenty of notice was given, so tough on the driver i think!
it takes council workers to do something like that they have nothing between the 2 ears only a hole nothing in it
The car should have been towed and the owner given the bill! Result, job completed , a happy tow truck operator and a not so happy car owner!! Too easy?
The driver of the vehicle should be fined and then charged for the cost of the additional work.
The team had turned up to do the job. They cannot just leave, the work would have been planned for that date, hence the advanced warning.
If you turned up at work and somebody was sat at your desk, would you expect to go home and not get paid? NO YOU WOULDN'T!!
should have tarmaced over his car!! or atleast fill his exhaust with the stuff!!!!!
that would teach him!
I would have asphalted over his car, not around. And then sent him/her a bill for any wasted or extra time/effort.
"Drivers are left puzzled"? Why? Can they not read the signs that clearly state the work was being carried out and not to park? Also, shouldn't that be a singluar 'driver' rather than plural 'drivers' as it was only one who failed to comply?
Couldn't the Council have closed off the car park preventing parking there prior to the work being carried out?
I don't think two days notice is adequate for the resurfacing the carpark but the council/ car park owners could have lifted the car out of the way and safely kept it to one side.
If it were me i would of asphalted over the car or had it recovered and give the owner/driver a nice big uplift bill!
Notice was given that on the day, it would not be a car park, therefore he was parked illegally surely? The council could have been in their rights to have his car towed away and impounded, released upon receipt of a paid fine.
nice that the mayor praised the workmanship and the journo included it in the piece...
omg...why didnt they just call out the tow away people and remove it...anyways when are the council gonna sort out chetham hill road????? its like a bumpy rollercoaster all the way and my car dont like it ;-)
Should have been towed away and made to pay.
Too many people think that these sort signs or double yellow lines don't apply to them.
So,maybe the driver may have been away on business or on holiday! Why not just move the car and inform him where it is. What is the DVLC for anyway,they know the owner. Shows how thick some people are!
problem solved
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1302151_car_hoisted_to_paint_yellow_lines__then_driver_gets_parking_ticket
CAR LEFT IN CAR PARK!!! Hardly the story of the week is it? If it was up a tree then I might have raised an eyebrow.
Is it any wonder there are massive council overspends when you see this kind of thing carrying on. Why didnt they just send for a vehicle to tow it away.
It's people like this that are putting other decent council workers out of work due to cuts.
And the lesson learned today is to put out the warning notices more than 48 hours before the work is going to be carried out!
If someone is ill in bed, gone on holiday or even worse died, 48 hours notice isn't enough, did anyone bother to notice WHEN the car was parked there?
I do remember a friend parking their car on a one way street and going by train on holiday, when he got back his car was gone. While he was away they had changed the flipped the one way system and his car removed because his car was "pointing in the wrong direction" - big storage fees, if was such a problem, why not turn the car around!
Anyway, my point is that sometimes not enough notice might have been given!