Questions about communication failures and wasted taxpayers’ money are being asked after a Wigan street’s newly laid pavement was re-excavated for engineering works only a couple of weeks later.

Residents of Ennerdale Avenue on Ashton-in-Makerfield’s Mucklow estate were given plenty of notice last year that Wigan Council would be carrying out work on their road.

The roots of trees planted on the verge back in the 1960s were beginning to push up flagstones, creating the risk of tripping hazards.

So the local authority sent a team down to remove the flags, tackle the protruding roots and then create a new walkway with asphalt.

Resident Roy Moore is exasperated after BT are digging up pavements on Ennerdale Avenue just days after the council re-laid them. The picture was taken on a day when workmen weren't there and had taken away the barriers around the pavement and put them around the verge. But trenches have already been dug in the fresh asphalt

placeholder image — Resident Roy Moore is exasperated after BT are digging up pavements on Ennerdale Avenue just days after the council re-laid them. The picture was taken on a day when workmen weren't there and had taken away the barriers around the pavement and put them around the verge. But trenches have already been dug in the fresh asphalt

The work was finished just before Christmas and homeowner Roy Moore says the consensus among neighbours was that a good job had been done.

But then on Monday January 5, some more workers descended on the street and started digging the pavement up again.

Mr Moore said: “At first I thought it was the same people, but then discovered they were from BT who were laying fibre optic cables for certain homes on the avenue. Drives have been blocked to the point that folk have to walk through their gardens to get into their homes.

"You couldn’t make it up. It’s the sort of thing that used to be on That’s Life. Don’t these people talk to each other? ”There are roadworks schedules and we were told about the council pavement laying well in advance but nothing about the cables. We asked if they couldn’t have put the cables under the verges to save the new pavement only to be told that that wasn’t possible because there were already utilities under there.

A picture by resident Roy Moore of the pavement excavations on Ennerdale Avenue, Ashton

"But the question remains: why didn’t they put these cables down before the new tarmac was laid? This wasn’t emergency work for something like a gas leak that has to be tackled without notice.

"Councils are short of money but you have to ask how much time and cash has been wasted doing that nice job on the pavement only for it all to be dug up again only a few days later.”

Julie Middlehurst, assistant director for infrastructure and regulatory services at Wigan Council, said: “We absolutely appreciate how frustrating it can be for underground works to take place soon after a street has been resurfaced.

“With more than 15,000 requests for works on our network every year, we always do our best to ensure these are coordinated.

“While the Council has some powers to restrict works, on this occasion these were exempt to those powers as an essential service so we were unable to refuse them.”

An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re proud to be building full fibre to millions of homes and businesses across the UK, and in Wigan we’ve already reached more than 140,000 premises.

"We try to use existing infrastructure where possible and only carry out work in the street when absolutely necessary and when permissions are in place.

"We appreciate that this can sometimes cause frustration for residents.

"We always aim to keep disruption to a minimum and complete work as quickly and safely as possible.”