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Darwen road's tarmac is laid AROUND car!

9:20am Tuesday 24th February 2009 in


WORKMEN were so eager to re-lay a road in Darwen that they resurfaced it around a car.

An area which is about three and-a-half-metres wide and 10ft long, where a silver Peugeot 207CC was parked, has been left untouched.

It is thought that the man who owns the car, who doesn’t live in Devon Street, is now on holiday and he is oblivious to what he will come home to.

Harry Pomfret, 84, who has lived in Devon Street for 40 years, said: “It’s just flipping stupid.

"If it had been me I’d have got a lorry and towed it away.

“But these contractors have a job to do and they cannot be wasting their time on fiddly bits and bobs.

“I think that a fast decision has been made in the circum-stances.”

Another resident said: “It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.

“Yes, it seems daft, but we were all given letters that this was going to happen.

“The most recent letter was a day before the work was done and he had already gone away by then.”

Councillor Alan Cottam, who is executive member for regeneration and environment, said: “The residents of Devon Street were informed about the work and asked to move their cars on the day.

“When the contractor arrived, a car had been left parked.

“Efforts were made to contact the owner but it was discovered that they did not live on the street and had left the car there while they were on holiday.

“We have no power to have the car removed and, rather than waste any further time or money, it was decided to go ahead.

We’ll finish when the car owner returns.”

Comments(20)

Mother of 3 says...
9:43am Tue 24 Feb 09

This is disgusting the work carried out on Devon Street is not of a very high quality anyway so why did they bother

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Dogsbolloxs says...
9:58am Tue 24 Feb 09

The contractor said "We have no power to have the car removed and, rather than waste any further time or money, it was decided to go ahead."

The car is parked illegally half on the pavement, so technically it is causing an obstruction, so call the police, they are empowered to give it a fixed £30 penalty AND have it towed away to remove the obstruction.

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Ex-Darrener says...
10:03am Tue 24 Feb 09

Who parks a car in somebody else's street and then goes on holiday (unless they are flying from Darwen International Airport)?

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baxter1 says...
10:29am Tue 24 Feb 09

Sorry bout that will remove the car when I get back from spain, hope it didn't cause to much hassel,if someone could give it a wash for me that would be nice.

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brok says...
11:40am Tue 24 Feb 09

An area which is about three and-a-half-metres wide and 10ft long, where a silver Peugeot 207CC was parked, has been left untouched. So the telegraph has elastic, multi lingual tape measures and dim journalists, what else is new?

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CapitaBackHander says...
11:45am Tue 24 Feb 09

dogs.... Don't be so daft! Why should the police waste their time getting a car removed so that the road can be resurfaced? Do you really think the police are sat doing nothing? I don't think the police have the power you say because it is NOT causing an obstruction.
Who cares that the car does not belong on the street - you can park where you want.
Soloution is to do what has been done or come back - no story really!

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Old Timer says...
11:51am Tue 24 Feb 09

CapitaBackHander, Darren."no story really!....
Obviously you don't know a story when it is a funny one, what do you want all this doom and gloom stuff about recession and redundancies? It livens up a dull day

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BR FC says...
12:13pm Tue 24 Feb 09

Surely more effort could have been put in to finding out who the car belongs to. i'm sure some of the local residents would have known.

The problem now is when this area has been tarmaced, it will not have the same mechanical integrity as the rest of the road surface, so it could crumble in winter.

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tccharmer says...
12:24pm Tue 24 Feb 09

This week there was a story about bad pavements, 1 in 4 in disrepair, and now this laughable story,do you remember the days of quality control with a council works Inspector having the last say.
IM sure they did their best and will be back, maybe.

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Darren Reynolds says...
12:59pm Tue 24 Feb 09

Five or six workmen could pick a car like that up and shift it.

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onlyonesimongarner says...
1:24pm Tue 24 Feb 09

Darren Reynolds wrote:
Five or six workmen could pick a car like that up and shift it.
No, the Health and Safety Nazis, will only permit 25Kg per Man
They might break a fingernail otherwise

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Ex-Darrener says...
2:25pm Tue 24 Feb 09

Amazing that the registration plate is there for all to see on the worldwide web when they tend to be blanked out in most media these days.

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HarwoodBiker says...
4:01pm Tue 24 Feb 09

It's not against the law to put the registration plate of any car on the internet. After all, it's visible to all as you're driving down the street...

Also, I wouldn't be happy if I found that someone had moved my car when I came back from holiday. If it was parked in gear with the handbrake on it could even be damaged.

Finally, why are the council resurfacing minor roads when I can name at least a hundred major roads that are completely knackered?

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jemma says...
4:54pm Tue 24 Feb 09

CAME PAST THIS STREET ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK ---- THE CAR HAS NOW GONE --- makes you wonder if it was now left there deliberatley.

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Susan Ward says...
7:42pm Tue 24 Feb 09

Priceless, Darwen has the best stories....

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retired one says...
8:04pm Tue 24 Feb 09

What a joke and no common sense, or is it Carry on Council?

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BurnleyBorn&Bred says...
8:53pm Tue 24 Feb 09

jemma wrote:
CAME PAST THIS STREET ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK ---- THE CAR HAS NOW GONE --- makes you wonder if it was now left there deliberatley.
Maybe it has been stolen as there is enough info in this report for easy pickings,owner away on holiday,street name,car reg even a photo of it.

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HarwoodBiker says...
8:23am Wed 25 Feb 09

It's practically impossible to steal a car like that unless you have the keys, due to the immobiliser system.

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genuflect says...
9:39am Wed 25 Feb 09

i cant understand why they re-laid the tarmac in the first place,there wasn't anything wrong with the original surface(well not much),the reason they have done it is because it is close to the new budget the council get each year so they had a bit left and had to spend it quick.

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CapitaBackHander says...
11:18am Wed 25 Feb 09

genuflect - as mentioned there ARE over 100 other spots that do need doing! I presume a council relative lives on the street or someone with influence.

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ROUND THEY GO: The car that was left in Devon Street shows how workmen resurfaced around the vehicle ROUND THEY GO: The car that was left in Devon Street shows how workmen resurfaced around the vehicle

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