ANGRY residents in a rural village are protesting after highways staff ripped up historic cobbles and installed ‘ugly’ plastic bollards.

People in Winewall said Lancashire County Council removed 200 year-old cobbles and flags next to a dry-stone wall in Winewall Lane, resurfaced the area and inserted a row of black and white striped bollards.

They are further angered that staff damaged the wall then made a ‘shoddy attempt’ to rebuild it.

The residents are now urging the council to return the area to its previous state to ‘give it back its character’.

County Hall said the cobbles had only been ‘temporarily moved’ and would be put back when the work was finished.

Residents in the village, which lies between Colne and Trawden, say the council wrote to them weeks ago to advise them of what they described as resurfacing work in Winewall Lane.

But residents said the work, which has taken place over the past two weeks, had been far more ‘destructive’ than they had feared.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Brian Jackson said cobbles had been removed at the end of Duke Street, where he lives.

If the work is not rectified, he said he would consider lying down in front of the workers’ machines in protest.

He said: “We fought to stop this village being destroyed when they wanted to build the motorway through it and we campaigned for it to be designated a Conservation Area.

“Then along come the highways staff pulling up 200-year-old cobbles. We’re not happy at all.”

Another Duke Street resident, Karen Ashworth, said: “It’s horrendous. They should give the village back its character.”

Mr Jackson said that he was now concerned council staff would damage or remove a 300-year-old drinking trough at the top of Winewall Lane.

Colin Badminton, assistant area manager at Lancashire County Council, said: "We are resurfacing the road on Winewall Lane as part of essential maintenance work in the area.

"Some cobbles have been temporarily removed on Winewall Lane during the resurfacing and will be put back afterwards.

"The roads are in a conservation area and residents have been informed about how we are doing the work.

"A short length of edging stones along the gulleys on Winewall Lane has to be replaced with bitumen for safety reasons and to improve drainage.

"There are no plans to move the drinking trough on Winewall Lane.

"The plastic bollards are 'bendy' markers at the edge of the road that have been put up for safety reasons to stop motorists parking too close to the wall.

"I am not aware of any damage to walls while this work has been carried out.

"If any damage has been caused, it will be repaired."