A couple from Haworth have lambasted Bradford council for not finishing the work it started on the village's controversial Hebden Road.

David and Joan Webster, from Hawkcliffe Farm on Hebden Road, say they have endured two years of anguish and disturbance during the re-construction of the road. And they are angry that the job has still not been finished off properly, six months after the road was officially re-opened.

During the construction of the underground 'bridge', which was built to halt subsidence along Hebden Road, the couple say they have endured a lack of access and much inconvenience.

They say tree planting and final restoration work on their land has still not been completed, with coping stones still to be fitted to the wall outside their home. Replacement gateways which have been put in by workmen are unstable and are so heavy they require two people to lift them.

They also claim stone gateposts, gates and drystone-walling materials have also disappeared from their property during construction.

Before construction work started, the Websters agreed to the council taking some of their land on either side of Hebden Road. They couple also signed a legal agreement giving workmen access to their land for 12 months. However, when this expired in January this year, they say contractors continued to work on their land.

Mr Webster, a retired Keighley College lecturer, says: "The essence of our problem is that no one comes and talks to us about what is going on. There seems to be a lack of concern and the disregard of the countryside and the people who live here.

"While they were building the road there was a huge amount of machinery. We had to put up with the sound of a generator running for 24 hours while they were sending the concrete piles down.

"The contractors also made an access road for us on our land but as soon as they finished it the workmen started using it themselves.

"Whenever we complained to the contractors they said it was the council's fault and when we spoke to the council they said it was up to the contractors to sort things out.

"A lot of rubbish including pieces of rubble and thousands of spare bits of wire have been buried in the soil and haven't been cleared away. What will happen if a cow or sheep swallows a piece of wire?"

The Websters' case has been taken up by Worth Valley conservative councillor Kris Hopkins, who has written to the chief executive of Labour-run Bradford council about the matter.

He says: "Mr and Mrs Webster are possibly the most tolerant couple you could ever wish to meet. They have endured nearly two years of what can only be described as a nightmare. Not being able to access their house by car, not having a regular bin collection and post arriving only when the postman can gain access.

"No one person has been in overall control of the whole process. Each issue was knocked around, each department blaming the other. Meanwhile this couple sat in the middle, between parties who quite simply do not give a damn about these two 'little' people.

"It requires officers to begin to realise that projects such as the Hebden Road 'bridge' will need public support and compliance and that the public are part of the job, not secondary to the aim of building a bridge."

A Bradford council highways spokesman says: "Mr and Mrs Webster have been very understanding during the time it has taken to construct the new road. We have had discussions with them about coping stones, gate posts and new trees and the contractor has been instructed to deal with these matters.

"We rejected the first batch of coping stones that arrived as they were not up to standard. The new supplier is delivering them as they are produced and this dictates the pace of the work. The gate posts have been replaced but they have sunk into the ground and the contractor will be going back to re-set them.

"Trees will be planted as soon as the work is done."

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