Blame ET…

North Yorkshire faces £20m winter road repairs… Gritting and repairing roads affected by the recent freezing weather will cost North Yorkshire County Council almost £20m, BBC News has been told.

Apparently the estimated cost runs to “more than three times the average winter maintenance bill of £6m”. The cost is ‘so high’ the council is planning to add a “snow levy” to council tax bills in 20010 as well as ‘dipping into its reserves’ for another £1m.

How convenient the extreme winter of 2009/2010 has been?

Reading between the lines of spin, now the council actually has something to pin the blame on when people complain about the shit state of our highways. Roads that have often seen little or no proper maintenance for years.

Telephone call…

Call Centre: “Good morning NYCC Highways Department, how can I help you?

Caller: “I want to report there is a large patch of tarmac missing from the road outside my house which is likely to cause an accident”

Call Centre: “Thank you for your call Sir, we are fully aware of the situation… It is due to the extreme bad weather we’ve had this winter. We have plans dependant on funding, to make good the surface later this year.

Caller: “That’s very strange? I was given a similar story last year when I reported it but you said it was the ‘heavy rain’ and the year before, you told me that the ‘heat wave’ was responsible for melting the tarmac. (WTF? Heat wave in the UK?)

I suppose next year you’ll want us to believe the damage was caused by an alien space ship landing in the street?