HOUSEHOLDERS in an Oswaldtwistle road have been left in the dark as result of red-tape wrangle.

The street lights outside a dozen homes on a decade-old street near a cricket ground have all gone out — but there is no-one to repair them.

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The firm behind the development on Cricketers Close no longer operates and the paperwork needed for Lancashire County Council to adopt the street has not been completed.

Now residents of the mixture of terraced and semi-detached properties which front on to Oswaldtwistle Immanuel cricket ground are fearful of going out after dusk.

They want someone to repair the lamps — but Hyndburn Borough Council is not responsible for street lighting and Lancashire County Council says it is unable to do so as the street is unadopted.

Immanuel ward borough councillor Julie Livesey said: “It is pitch dark outside the houses. It is not safe for children, or even adults, to go out of their front doors at night. They do not deserve another winter without street lighting.”

Oswaldtwistle county councillor Peter Britcliffe said: “These residents are caught up in a red-tape nightmare. They are afraid to go out in the dark and need these lights repaired. It is not as if one of them can shin up the lampposts and change the bulbs.

“While the builder was in operation, the paperwork to adopt this street was never completed so the county is not responsible for the lighting. As far as I can see, the road is in a good state.

“I am trying to find out from the county what is needed and how much it would cost to get Cricketers Close adopted. I am also seeking to find out what it would cost residents for the county to repair the lights as an interim measure.”

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones said: “If residents contact me, I will try to sort this out.”

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: “Cricketers Close is an unadopted road and is therefore not maintained by the county council.

“To progress adoption the landowner needs to complete any outstanding work to bring the road up to adoptable standard and enter into an appropriate legal agreement with the county council to dedicate the land as highway.”