PAVEMENT repairs in Nelson town centre have been branded ‘scandalous’ by local residents.

Utilities work has led to flag stones being dug up in the recently refurbished section of the town centre, but the repairs have only resulted in black tarmac being used to fill the gaps.

Former Nelson County Councillor George Adam said the ‘mess’ needed fixing as soon as possible, while Lancashire County Council said they expected the black filler to be replaced with paving stones soon.

Mr Adam said: “It was only a couple of years ago that millions of pounds was spent on the town centre, making it look good.

“The paving stones in the town centre and in the pedestrianised area looked brilliant but this just makes it look a mess.

“To have some really nice paving stones and then just blobs of tarmac is scandalous, and it needs to be sorted as soon as possible.

“There has been a lot of work going on in the area but this isn’t good enough. It’s a patchwork mess now.

“There are a couple of bits of tarmac near The Shuttle and also outside Barclays Bank in Manchester Road.”

Nelson town centre underwent a £2.3million transformation which was unveiled in 2011, including laying new flags.

The work secured two awards, the highways category in the 2012 Street Design Awards and the landscape title in the 2012 National Stone Sustainability Awards.

Alan Capstick, highways manager for Pendle, said: "Utility companies are able to make temporary repairs to areas such as this where they've been working and have up to six months to make a full repair.

"Pendle Borough Council is ready to restore this area of paving as soon as they are notified that United Utilities have completed their repairs."