Orpington High Street cobbles causing mayhem for family (From This Is Local London)

Orpington High Street cobbles causing mayhem for family

5:27pm Tuesday 8th January 2013 in News By Patrick Grafton-Green

Patrick Neylan on the cobbles of Orpington High Street.

COMPLAINTS over Orpington High Street have continued with a resident claiming vibrations from passing traffic are causing mayhem for him and his family.

Cobbles were added to the stretch of road outside the home of Patrick Neylan, 48, when the street was re-designed two years ago.

Since then the house has been left shaking and rattling when buses and lorries pass over this stretch of road.

He said: "When traffic passes I hear the doors rattling in their frames. "When I'm in bed I can feel the bed shake.

"My children and I are frequently woken up by the noise and shaking."

Mr Neylan, who lives with his two children, 18 and 20, added: "There is no reason at all for the road to be cobbled.

"Cobbles are fine if the heaviest traffic is a donkey and cart moving at walking pace and carrying a hay bale and a couple of chickens, but cobbles can't cope with buses and 40-tonne lorries travelling at over 30 mph.

"The road surface is coming apart, which makes the vibration worse, but the council seems unable to admit its mistake and take the only sensible action, which is to return the road to tarmac."

He claims that despite complaining to the council for the last six months, nothing has been done to rectify the problem.

A Bromley Council spokesman said: "We are in contact with the resident to find out exactly what the problem has been to make sure that any subsequent work solves the problem.

"Remedial works will be required to rectify the defects in the road surface.

"We have asked our contractor to identify the cause of the failure and arrange for remedial works to be completed as soon as possible."

Orpington High Street was redesigned at a cost of £2.2 million in 2010 but has since shown itself to have some major design flaws.

This summer part of the paving had to be taken up and relaid, while tarmac has been used to patch up gaps in the brickwork, leading readers to brand the improvement works a "painful and expensive mistake".