No agreement in Stoke-on-Trent road cracks saga

The council said it cannot repair the highway or reopen the road until the defect is identified

No agreement has been reached over who should repair a subsiding street, two years after cracks appeared.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council closed Boatman Drive in 2019, for safety reasons, but said the problem was "no fault of the council".

Severn Trent Water also said it was not to blame for the collapse and the estate developer, Redrow Homes, said it is seeking talks with both.

Residents have said they fear further collapses.

Property developer Stephen Davies said he had not been able to rent out his house on the street for two years.

He said: "This is the only house that's had a prohibition order on it, but there are lots of houses affected and a block of flats next door.

"It seems clear to me that the ground is washing away and it's happening under the entire... Boatman Drive, all the way down to the main road, and the sad truth is probably nothing will happen until something serious does happen."

Severn Trent Water said it had investigated the subsidence and found it was not to blame

An unnamed resident said: "Where we are standing right now, what's happening underneath this land, we don't know."

Another added said: "There's this genuine fear of more sinkholes appearing and more sort of damage being done to houses and then add to that, the fact that absolutely nothing's been done about what's happened so far."

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Severn Trent said it had carried out a "comprehensive survey", shared with the city council, which showed it was "not responsible for the issues in the area" and said it was trying to arrange a meeting with Redrow.

It also said it would continue to monitor the area and carry out surveys, adding: "The scale of the current ground movement is beginning to impact all infrastructure in the affected area."

The city council said the road closure had no impact on emergency service response times

The city council said there were ongoing legal discussions and it was trying encourage Redrow Homes and Severn Trent Water to "try and arrange a resolution to the problem as soon as possible".

"Until the defect in Boatman Drive, which has been caused by no fault of the council, is brought to a satisfactory condition we will not be able to repair the highway and reopen the road," a statement added.