A SINKHOLE problem in Alsager is not the fault of Cheshire East Council, says one representative.

Cllr June Buckley, a ward councillor for Alsager, says the town has been blighted by a problem with the roads deteriorating for months.

She told the LDRS: "My understanding is that quite often when a sinkhole appears, [CEC] highways will contact United Utilities — and they say 'you've got to prove that it's us at fault', so it causes a delay.

"My other big worry is it's an old Victorian sewer and we have plans for the whole high street to be re-done. It's no good having a lovely new [street] when it's going to keep on sinking."

Cllr Buckley has raised the issue at a past Cheshire East cabinet meeting, and says she did so to investigate if the borough could compel the water company to do a 'proper survey of the sewer and have a proper action plan' in place to avoid 'massive disruption'.

She added: "United Utilities should be looking at their sewer, and getting it sorted out properly and thoroughly instead of doing it piecemeal."

The Liberal Democrat councillor also claimed she had received complaints from residents over a set of temporary traffic lights on Crewe Road, with noise from stationary cars keeping young children up at night.

In response, a spokesperson for United Utilities said: "Our engineers will be carrying out drainage repairs on Crewe Road, Alsager, between Sainsbury's and the cross roads at Lawton Road, during the October half term holiday.

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"We won't be closing the road to carry out these repairs, instead there will be temporary traffic lights at the junction to ensure our team can work safely in the road.

"The temporary traffic lights on Crewe Road, between Hall Drive and Station Road, are not linked to our sewer repairs but relate to works being carried out by Cheshire East Highways.

"We apologise to residents for any inconvenience caused while we're working in their area. We hope the scheduling of the work during school holidays will minimise disruption and we will try to complete our work as quickly as possible."

Cllr Laura Crane, Cheshire East cabinet member for highways and waste, said: "We continue to ensure that our road network is kept safe. The current traffic management arrangements are to ensure the continued safety of all our road users, given the problem that has emerged in that location.

"We are in regular contact with United Utilities and further investigation work will be carried out on Crewe Road to determine the precise cause of the problem.

"We are working together to ensure that we have a shared thorough understanding of the cause and can establish how we should work with United Utilities to resolve the issues. In the meantime, we will closely monitor the area."