Residents in Willington Street, Maidstone, angry about broken BT Openreach manhole cover in road

Residents say they are losing hope of a damaged manhole cover being fixed, after six months spent waiting.

Several people living in Willington Street, Maidstone, have reported the hazard to Kent County Council (KCC) after complaining lorries trundling over it was causing their houses to shake.

Helen Ralph raised the issue in December when she saw signs of cracking.

The 67-year-old said: “You constantly have lorries going up Willington Street. At 2am you’re hearing clonk, clonk, clonk. It’s no good and keeps me awake.

“KCC said it would be done within two days, all I saw was them spray-paint a square around it.

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“I’m worried it will keep getting bigger, then breaking and hitting somebody and causing a nasty accident.

“My main concern is a lorry going over at such an angle you see the cover fly up in the sky and hit someone.

“It started off so little but it’s got bigger with bits of the road being left on the pavement as people pick it up.

“It’s ridiculous – we pay enough taxes for our roads to be done but no one seems to do it.”

Neighbour Alex has reported the issue three times.

He said: “A lot of people including schoolchildren walk up and down this road and my worry is that if a lorry hits that it could cause a serious accident.

“When a lorry goes over it our house shakes. This road is one of the main ways lorries get to and from town and it seems whenever there is a road shut traffic is redirected down here.

“We have to put up with the noise of traffic anyway but then add the clunk of the manhole cover.

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“The noise is unpleasant but there’s more to it than that. I’m worried for my kids walking up and down here, there’s bound to be an accident and you’re entitled to have safe roads.”

Another neighbour, Paul, is worried what would happen to the road if it doesn’t get fixed.

He said: “It’s been marked up for about two months and been there for six.

“When the lorries go over, it’s so noisy you can feel the back of the house shake.

“The kids sleep at the front of the house and they get woken up by the clattering.

“Eventually it’s going to end up collapsing and as you can see the cover itself is loose from all the traffic. You can see it wobble as a car goes over.”

All three have raised the issue with Kent County Council which has been out to inspect the issue.

However, as it involves a manhole cover belonging to Openreach, all it can do is alert the company to the problem.

BT Openreach confirmed it has looked at the fault.

A spokesman for the company said: “We’re sorry it’s taking time to get this noisy underground chamber cover fixed and for the disruption it’s causing.

“We are working with partners to carry out the necessary work.”