A HOMEOWNER has spoken of her frustration at not being able to use her drive for months on end due to issues over gas works outside her house.

Jenny Wright, 69, who lives on Sun Lane in Burley in Wharfedale, says there is “complete inertia and absolutely no sense of urgency” over the inconvenience it’s causing.

Such was her anger at a lack of progress, she resorted to emailing Bradford Council chief executive Kersten England in the hope of getting some answers.

Mrs Wright said drama began around 15 weeks ago when Northern Gas Networks dug up the road to lay new pipework.

She said the drive has been unusable as the culvert next to the house needs rebuilding before the work can be completed.

“The gas board has confirmed the rebuild has been approved by Bradford Council several weeks ago, but they are still waiting for official approval to proceed,” said Mrs Wright in her email.

“Needless to say both the gas board and ourselves are frustrated by what is now only a simple signature to move forward.

“The gas board has a contractor ready and waiting to rebuild the culvert on approval. With the winter weather approaching, we can foresee potential flooding due to the large muddy soil trench that has been dug up and left unfinished.

“Part of the safety barrier has half fallen into the culvert, a potential risk to passers-by.”

She added: “The inconvenience to us as council taxpayers has been immense whilst initially understanding of the problem, we patiently stayed away with family in the hope the work would have been completed on our return.”

But the work wasn’t completed, leaving them in a nightmare situation and without the use of the drive.

Mrs Wright said: “As you will appreciate for a couple of weeks we accepted the situation but over three months later, many phone calls and discussions with both the gas board and the Council I have resorted to emailing yourself in the hope you can resolve this quickly.”

A Bradford Council spokesperson said “The authority is currently investigating the delay in repair works to the culvert by Northern Gas Networks and will aim to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for Northern Gas Networks said: “The disruption to residents in this instance doesn’t reflect our normal standards of customer service and we’re extremely sorry.

“We’re working closely with the local authority to try and get the situation resolved as quickly as possible.”