Pothole-riddled road in Wrenbury given own swear jar after being named the 'worst ever'

Furious residents have installed a 'swear jar' for motorists who drive down a road plagued by potholes in a village in Cheshire.

Nearly 700 people have signed an online petition demanding that the "appalling" pothole-ridden Station Road in Wrenbury is finally repaired this year.

Villagers believe it is the "worst stretch of road in the county", and have put a swear jar on the verge due to the anger and frustration it causes to drivers.

But for many, the condition of the road is no laughing matter.

It is the "primary access road" through Wrenbury and previous attempts to temporarily fix it have been unsuccessful.

Parish Councillor Oliver Lowe states in the online petition: "Essentially, the road drainage failed some time/years ago leading to the poor surface developing.

"Last year the road was due to be repaired, but the funds were reprioritised to another (unknown) job. As such the road fell into significant disrepair.

"The council have since said that it will be repaired this financial year, but it needs doing as soon as possible, certainly before another winter.

“Villagers are also concerned that the funding will be reprioritised to another job again.

"The council are presently undertaking a few temporary repairs to the worst of the potholes that are forming, but they are interim measures only."

Cheshire East Council said repair work on Station Road was due to take place later this year, and would continue to maintain the road and repair ‘urgent defects’.

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: “We are constantly working to maintain the condition of our roads, within very challenging financial constraints.

"The council has a £180m backlog of works needing to be done, as a result of reductions in government funding for road maintenance over the last decade.

“All works on the highways and footways have to be prioritised in accordance with the budget available across the whole borough and we place the safety of our road users as our highest priority, within the context of the limited budget we have available.

“All roads are classified in line with guidance from the Department for Transport and the code of practice for well-managed highways.

"As part of the council’s network hierarchy, the roads in questions form part of our secondary distributor roads."

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