Dogged persistence by a Keswick Town Council official has led to a patched up area of cobbles being restored following a six-month wait.
United Utilities contractors had dug up the entrance to Packhorse Court in June 2022 and laid asphalt promising to replace the proper cobbles and stones in due course.
But come 2023 and the patched up cobbles remained and this prompted town council officer Ania Mlynczak to take action.
At least 15 emails and numerous phone calls went back and forth between her and the water company before the “temporary” surface was lifted this week and the stones replaced.
“Ania would not let go of this one as very often utility companies dig up the street, fill back with asphalt and say they will come back and replace the original surface but utterly fail to do so,” said Tony Lywood, Cumbria County Councillor for Keswick.
“So Ania’s polite, direct and timely reminders to UU spurred on by Packhorse Court traders and members of the public did the trick.”
Ian McCoy, from United Utilities, said he was pleased that the reinstatement had finally happened and said that they had avoided the Christmas period at the request of the Packhorse Court traders.
He added that they had also had difficulty in sourcing the like for like material and it had always been UU’s aim to replace the original surface as soon as it could.
