Unlevel alleyway leaves residents stuck in their homes

People living on Nutgrove Road in Rainhill say they have complained many times to St Helens council due to the state of the alleyway at the back of their homes.

The alleyway, which is used for bin storage as well as another access point to properties, was recently covered in flytipping.

Following several complaints, St Helens council did remove the flytipping, but now residents say the issue is not solved as unlevel and "unsafe" cobblestones mean many are stuck inside their homes, or forced to pay out for taxis as their mobility scooters cannot be taken out.

Angela and Robert Mooney, aged 57 and 63 respectively, both have a myriad of issues such as sleep apnoea, diabetes, COPD and Angela previously suffering from a heart attack.

This has left the pair in need of mobility scooters to get out and about safely.

However, the condition of the alleyway means Robert is now limited to getting out, remaining mostly housebound, and Angela must risk falling to brave paying for taxis to get shopping or pay out for food deliveries.

They are just two of several residents unable to use the alleyway to its full advantage, with able bodied residents helping the older residents where possible.

Angela said: “We have scooters in the back garden with the idea of taking them out via the alleyway which is gated and if we could do that then we could go to the shop and wherever we needed.

“But the cobbles are that unlevel that it means you couldn’t drive anything on them.

“I already risk life and limb taking the bins out every week.”

Robert added: “The streets next to ours have all had their alleyways freshly tarmacked and some are even lit up.

“The council sent someone out but only touched up the odd patch here and there but there’s one cobble in front of our back gate which is so high it’s a hazard.”

Their neighbour Lee Weatherilt, 42, has been contacting the council on behalf of himself and fellow residents, but says he feels "at a loss" as to what to do next.

He said: “At the end of the day it seems minor to other people, but when I see people struggling when other streets nearby have had theirs sorted it’s just wrong.

“It took them ages to sort the flytipping then they randomly selected areas to tarmac leaving others, I’d just like to know who came and assessed the situation.

“We pay taxes for a reason, it’s about equality now and I’m at a loss over what to do next. Why can’t we be treated the same as our neighbours?”

A spokesperson for St Helens Borough Council said: “We have been liaising with residents over their concerns on the alleyway and have recently taken additional action to improve the appearance and accessibility of the area concerned.

“This work has included removing moss, weeds and mud from the surfaces of the alleyway and carrying out isolated repairs. Our team has also removed additional fly tipped rubbish from the site. Our limited resources require us to focus investment on those areas that are most in need of urgent repair. This is based on inspection data and condition reports across the 780km of network that we are responsible for.”