Villagers in Britain's longest running pothole row dating back to 1960 have been told to pay nearly £100k if they want them repaired.
Furious locals in Furneux Pelham, Herts, have been locked in a bitter dispute with the council for decades about fixing a lane that links the main road through the village to a cul-de-sac.
Hertfordshire County Council said that Whitebarns Lane has always been a public footpath and not a road - meaning it cannot be repaired at public expense.
But with 32 potholes now littered the road, the latest quote from the council in 2016 was £73k to sort the issue - with inflation meaning this would now cost homeowners nearly £100k.
Campaigners say fighting to get the road surface repaired has been a source of anger for decades - with local newspaper reports on the issue dating back to 1960 and 1980.
A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “It would potentially be possible to adopt Whitebarns Lane as a public road, but only if the landowner, or the residents living along the lane, were able to bring it up to an acceptable standard.
"We have offered to contribute towards the cost of the necessary works.
“In the meantime, we will continue to maintain Whitebarns Lane as a public footpath.”
Furious locals in Furneux Pelham, Herts, have been locked in a bitter dispute with the council for decades about fixing a lane that links the main road through the village to a cul-de-sac.
Hertfordshire County Council said that Whitebarns Lane has always been a public footpath and not a road - meaning it cannot be repaired at public expense.
But with 32 potholes now littered the road, the latest quote from the council in 2016 was £73k to sort the issue - with inflation meaning this would now cost homeowners nearly £100k.
Campaigners say fighting to get the road surface repaired has been a source of anger for decades - with local newspaper reports on the issue dating back to 1960 and 1980.
A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “It would potentially be possible to adopt Whitebarns Lane as a public road, but only if the landowner, or the residents living along the lane, were able to bring it up to an acceptable standard.
"We have offered to contribute towards the cost of the necessary works.
“In the meantime, we will continue to maintain Whitebarns Lane as a public footpath.”
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FunTranscript
00:00In 2016 we noticed that the road surface deteriorated, so it was originally a full-width hard surface
00:12and in 2016 the potholes started appearing and they were slowly getting worse and worse
00:17and people were falling in the potholes.
00:20We're in dispute of who should do the road, the lane entering that estate.
00:28Is it the council or the housing association?
00:34We don't really know.
00:35We approached Harts County Council and they said it was a rights-of-way problem and so
00:40we went to rights-of-way and then they wrote to us saying that if we wanted the road made
00:45up then we would have to find £73,000 to do that.
00:49This is a social housing cul-de-sac, it is mixed housing now, but there are elderly people
00:55here and people that just really couldn't afford to find that kind of money.
00:59We've had a couple of accidents, so an elderly grandmother fell, hit her face on the ground
01:04while she was walking with her grandchildren.
01:06She broke her glasses and that was really distressing, it was upsetting obviously.
01:10We have a footpath out of the estate, comes all the way around both sides and it finishes
01:22here.
01:25That's from there, after that there's no footpath at all from here to where I have to walk down
01:31the lane to catch the bus which is our only transport out of the village, my only transport.
01:39When I walk down the lane, they're saying it's a footpath, I have to get out of the
01:46way to let cars through, I have to watch where I'm walking down the lane to the pothole
01:54so I don't trip into them.
01:56I have tripped into them a couple of times but I've been fast enough and quick enough
02:01on my feet to save my balance.
02:03This is a unique access route to this social housing cul-de-sac that was originally built
02:09by East Harts District Council, subsequently sold on to Housing Association.
02:15Through Freedom of Information we've managed to get lots of documentation showing when
02:21the various parts of the cul-de-sac were built.
02:24In 1968 the county's own surveyor said should there be any further building beyond the purpose
02:30built elderly people's bungalows then Harts County Council Highways should make the access
02:37route up to highway standard.
02:39They adopted the cul-de-sac but not the route and are now maintaining that they have never
02:49made up the route and if they did it was an accident or a mistake but we have found two
02:56news articles showing that they did at some point make the route up, so 1960 and 1980.
03:04What am I supposed to do?
03:06Where do I walk?
03:07They're saying it's a footpath so have I got the right of way over cars or cars got the
03:14right of way over me?
03:16There's no path or anything to walk on the side, you've got to stand off the road to
03:21let a car pass and it's just becoming too much.
03:27It's unnecessary because the route has been kept up before, they're just refusing to reinstate it.
03:32What I would say to the council is please reinstate the full width hard sealed surface
03:36up to the entrance and beyond the entrance of the cul-de-sac and please put in policy
03:45a way to maintain that route going forward so that we do not have to go through this again.