MY neighbours had their gateway widened. They arranged for the dropped kerb to be widened also.

A team of men arrived and a short length of the tarmac footpath was dug up to allow the old kerbs to be removed and new lower ones to be installed.

The next day a larger team arrived in three trucks to reinstate the footpath with new tarmac.

As they unloaded their equipment, I asked one of the guys if it would be possible to throw a couple of shovels full of tarmac into a shallow 18 inch by 12 inch hole in the tarmac at the edge of the road, outside my drive.

The man politely explained that there was no way they could do this. He said they are strictly monitored and they'd be in serious trouble if they were seen to be doing anything other than the job they were sent to do. The irony is that the rear of the tarmac wagon that they were filling their wheelbarrows from was about two yards from this hole. To drop some tarmac into it and tamp it down would have taken about two minutes.

The workman suggested that I should phone the council to report it and they would repair it.

So, because these teams are not allowed to use their discretion or initiative, I have to report the hole. It will mean more paper work, another team will eventually be sent out, in another truck with the necessary equipment, to perform a repair that could have been done there and then.

Not the best use of finances I would suggest.

Timperley Reader, name and address supplied