CONTRACTORS have had to dig up cobbles on a controversial £2.5million pedestrianisation and lay them again, it was revealed today.

Several sections of Church Street, Blackburn, have been dug up and relaid over the last week following inspections by council chiefs.

Checks revealed that puddles were forming on several parts of the car parking area because the cobbled stones had not been laid on a slight slope, which would have allowed water to travel into gutters on either side of the road.

It is the latest in a line of setbacks to hit the street which have included delays to the showpiece artwork and a shortage of "cobblers" to complete the street.

In the end, trained "cobblers" from Portugal were drafted in to finish the work, using stone from China and Italy. But there is nothing to suggest the Portuguese workers are at fault for the drainage problems.

Coun Andy Kay, in charge of regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The street has been handed over to us by the contractors. We have carried out inspections to make sure everything was OK and we realised that puddles were forming on small parts of the car park section.

"This was because the stones had not been laid in a way which allowed the water to drain away.

"We asked the contractor to look at it again and they have done by lifting the stone and relaying it."

Ronnie O'Keeffe, president of the Blackburn Chamber of Trade, said: "We have always had concerns about cobbles being used because they are so prone to going wrong.

"Part of Darwen Street is also being cobbled at the moment and the roadworks which have resulted are slowing the traffic up."

Chris Cox, of contractors George Cox and Son of Bolton, said the problem was only on isolated areas of the street.

Coun Alan Cottam, the Conservative spokesman for regeneration, said: "It is probably better that it has been spotted now rather than later."

Jeff Stone, of Jeff Stone Hairdressers, Fleming Square, Blackburn, said: "Real concern was expressed about taking up real Victorian cobbles and having been told at the time they were going to be thrown away. It seems almost predictable that now, after spending £2.5 million on the Church Street scheme on rough-hewn cobbles from the other side of the world, having used foreign labour to lay them, they are now having to be redone.

"What we really need in Church Street are cars and pedestrians."

Phil Ainsworth, director of Ainsworth Jewellers, on Darwen Street, said: "It's a real shame they haven't been laid right in the first place."

Opposition councillors have also criticised the decision to allow short-stay parking in part of Church Street, saying no-one would eat at proposed pavement cafes there if cars were pulling up alongside them all day.