Council moves to reassure over ripped-up paving
BBCAT A GLANCE
- Ripped-up paving slabs in a city centre will be replaced with matching ones, according to authorities
- The reassurance came after the slabs were first put down in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, as part of a £10m scheme
- The slabs are being removed so new gas pipes can be laid in the area
- Matching slabs have been sourced, a firm has said.
Paving slabs ripped up to allow for large-scale, city centre gas works will be re-laid with matching slabs, a council has said.
The paving in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, was laid as part of a £10m public realm scheme that finished in 2014.
During current work to replace gas pipes in the area, large sections of slabs on Tontine Street have been taken up.
Gas firm Cadent said replacements had been sourced and would be laid once the work was finished.
The project began on 16 October and was set to finish on 17 November, a spokesperson added.
Finlay Gordon-McCusker, a member of the city council, said all work would be inspected once completed and any defects sorted out.
"As these works are part of a bigger project, there may be times when the footways are reinstated with a different material for a short, temporary period," he explained.
'A bit of a pain'
Earlier in the year, paving slabs laid on the carriageway along Albion Street in the city centre were replaced with asphalt.
Shoppers said they understood the gas work needed to be completed.
“If work needs to be done it has to be done there is no point moaning about it," John Hurst, from Burslem, said.
But another, Colin Simpson, explained: “It is a bit of a pain but I understand that it needs to [happen]."
He added that laying asphalt rather than paving slabs would "look a right mess".
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