AN unadopted road, which has caused problems to residents for 25 years, is set to be improved after a plan to build 126 homes nearby was passed.

Housing developer Ruttle Plant Holdings will straighten and relay Spring Meadows as part of its plan to build semi and detached homes in nearby Pole Lane.

Cllr Phil Riley, executive member for regeneration for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said the uneven road has been plagued by potholes.

It was left unadopted after United Utilities (UU) could not declare the water system underneath to a good enough standard, leaving the council unable to take it on.

However within the plans that have been approved by the council’s development committee, the housing developer agreed to take on the water management under the road.

This will enable UU to sign off the water and enable the council to take responsibility of it.

Cllr Riley said the upgrade will improve residents’ chances of being able to sell their properties.

He said: “This road has been an issue for about 25 years, basically since the Spring Meadows estate was built.

“It is full of pot holes, it’s uneven and the hedgerows are falling away.

“It was always seen as a temporary road.

“Now the developer will undertake the water management with the new housing development, UU can sign off the water and the council can adopt it.

“I think this will significantly improve residents’ ability to sell their houses as they will have suffered being on an unadopted road which is very windy.”

Ruttle Plant Holdings will divert the drainage system from Spring Meadows into the Pole Lane housing development site.

The planning application has been controversial, having received 13 objections from residents living close by.

The objections include fears over congestion, losing open field space, not enough school places for extra children and causing potential harm to wildlife.

The council said it would be a ‘positive’ and ‘high quality’ development which would widen the choice of family housing in the borough.

A UU spokesman said: “This has been a historic problem.

“When Moorlands Court was built we could not adopt the sewers because it was not of a suitable standard.

“If someone takes responsibility for that sewer, which they are set to do in this case, then we will work with them and if it is brought to a suitable standard we will adopt it.”

A spokesman for Ruttle Plant Holdings said the approved development would be 'positive' for the area.