Emergency work carried out after botched Bilston road repairs cause breathing problems
Wolverhampton Council has been forced into a clean-up operation after re-surfacing work outside a car dealership in Bilston caused major problems.
Staff and customers at Owens of Bilston in Oxford Street had breathing problems from fumes caused by the work and 25 vehicles were left with a film of dust over them after the work was carried out on Thursday.
Owner Andrew Owen has run the business for 24 years and said their had not been adequate measures put in place to deal with the dust from the road surface.
He said: "There were a lot of complaints from customers, my wife who works here had to stay away as she suffers from asthma as it is and generally there was a lot of disruption to the business.
"Whilst it is good they are carrying out the work which will improve the road measures should have been put in place to deal with any problems caused by them.
"To be fair they did come out on Thursday afternoon to sweep and damp down the road but I think a little more thought and planning is needed before the work starts. Even the work men were telling people to stay away because they new these problems were likely."
Councillor Craig Collingswood, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for city environment and climate change said: “This work is part of our road resurfacing programme which we are carrying out to improve safety and extend the useful life of our roads.
“The work does create dust, and fortunately this is quite short-lived but our sub-contractor did send a road sweeper to the site in the afternoon to sweep and damp down the surface.
“We would also urge motorists to adhere to the temporary road restriction of 20mph to keep any further dust to a minimum.
“The first tranche of works at this location is now being completed and the contractor will return at a later date to carry out a second one-day treatment to the surface.
“We are investing in the road surfacing programme to address existing potholes, ensure people can get around our roads and access businesses and frontages without problems, as well as keep our city’s roads safe.”