MP Rosie Cooper has secured agreement from Virgin Media and Lancashire County Council that paving laid down following cabling works will be replaced due to poor workmanship.

Residents reported that having finished laying down cables under the pavement on Claremont Drive in Ormskirk, contractors repaved the footpath but failed to wash away excess cement which dried on the flags and has caused safety concerns, particularly for older people.

Virgin Media informed MP Rosie that the contractors in question did attempt to remove the thin layer of slurry from the surface of the flags a number of times but were not successful and so have accepted liability and that the paving flags need to be replaced.

This morning, Rosie told QLocal: "The Virgin Media cabling works have been causing various problems across Ormskirk for some time and this is just another example of the issues residents have had to put up with.

“When the residents reported the issue to Lancashire County Council initially, inspections were carried out suggesting there was only one failure and that it was immediately rectified.

“Residents again reported ‘cementing over the pavement’ and upon further inspections the council agreed that there was an issue and the identified defects were passed to Virgin Media for them to deal with.

“Virgin Media have now confirmed that their contractors have accepted liability and work will be carried out to rectify the situation, and LCC will check the workmanship and footway condition once they have finished.”

This afternoon, a Virgin Media PR officer told QLocal: "The pavement repairs on Claremont Drive will be carried out as instructed by the local council. Virgin Media works hard to quickly carry out any necessary repairs to paths and roads following network expansion and abides by the guidelines set by the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991."