Holes that never get fixed?

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Have you been troubled by holes dug up and left for weeks in the pavement or road near you? Local resident seeks similar experiences before contacting Transco

I have a largish hole in the pavement outside my house in Putney which Transco dug back in June, and in spite of my phone-calls and e-mails, there it remains, a danger to pedestrians and an eyesore to everyone five weeks later.

Transco was called to replace a length of gas pipe from the main in the road to my house, which it did promptly on June 25. The crew left saying that another team would be along to fill in the resulting hole in the pavement. They left some plastic barriers round it, but these take up most of the pavement, and anyway fall down in the lightest wind.

We are now well in to August and the hole is gradually filling with rubbish. As far as I know, no one's fallen in yet, but pram-pushers, children and the infirm are at obvious risk.

I have phoned Transco twice to remind them. The second time "a manager will ring you back" but of course didn't. I've complained via e-mail to the Transco website as invited, but no response there either.

My next step will be a complaint to Sir John Parker, chairman of the parent company, NationalGrid Transco. Its management can't be as dilatory as this in other respects -- can it?

But before I do, I wonder if other people have been troubled by these holes, and whether they, too, have tried to prod Transco into action? I recall a number of them in the vicinity, but I have no means of knowing which firm was responsible.

I look forward to responses.

Tom Lester

August 5, 2004