WORK has started on filling potholes in a well-used road leading to a popular Ramsbottom park.

Regular users of Nuttall Park feared that someone would be badly hurt if the council did not take urgent action to fix the holes in Nuttall Hall Road, the only vehicular route into the park.

A petition started by a park volunteer collected more than 1,000 signatures calling on the council to act - and a team from Bury Council began work on mending the road on Tuesday.

Stuart Makin, of Buttermere Drive, Ramsbottom, said: “It’s ridiculous that it’s taken this long to get it sorted but I’m just glad it’s being done.

“I’m pleased for the children, elderly people and mums pushing prams down the road because it would only have been a matter of time that someone would have broken their neck using that road.

“Cars had to manoeuvre all over the place to avoid dropping down potholes deep enough to stand a pint of milk in.”

The road is unadopted, which means that its maintenance is the responsibility of those who live next to or own land adjacent to the park.

Cllr Ian Bevan is working to get the road adopted and said: “The Parks and Countryside Department at Bury Council has fortunately agreed to fix the potholes which seriously needed doing.

“I am having a meeting on October 12 to see if the council could possibly adopt the road.

“In the past the Parks and Countryside Department has been good enough to mend the road when it needs it but with budget cuts in recent years they haven’t been able to help out as much.

“This road is the only vehicular access to the park and gets used a lot. If the road isn’t maintained then it will return to its previous dangerous state.

“Hopefully we get positive feedback at the meeting.”