Liberal Democrats have criticised Bury Council’s under-investment in road repairs after a local councillor discovered a two-metre deep crater on a Prestwich street.

Cllr Donal O’Hanlon, Liberal Democrat member for St Mary’s ward, discovered the hole on Lowther Road, and launched a stinging attack on road maintenance in the borough. “We can’t go on like this – the condition of our roads is appalling, and the amount we are allocated to repair them is paltry!” said Cllr. O’Hanlon.

“Bury Council announced it’s annual budget recently, but the amount given over to road repairs was so low that we can’t even afford to fix the single neediest road. Local Area Partnerships decide how much of the meagre money allocated can be spent on the upgrading of the roads and pavements, but there is nowhere near enough.”

Cllr O’Hanlon described the moment he almost became a victim of the crumbling road himself. “I came round the corner and swerved around a dip in the road. I got out to investigate, and found a crater two metres deep. The damage to someone’s car if it’d fallen in, let alone the shock to the person, would far outweigh the cost of keeping the road in a decent condition!”

Prestwich Area Partnership has been allocated less than £200,000 by Bury’s Conservative-controlled Council to repair all the roads and pavements in the town. ”What we need is a real investment in our roads – the proverb ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ springs to mind. Is this what we get for our massive 4.9% Council Tax rise?” asked Cllr O’Hanlon. “I call on the Executive Member of the Council responsible for roads, Cllr. Dorothy Gunther, to come and see the appalling mess she is currently presiding over, and ask for her commitment to rectify matters immediately.”