A PUBLIC-spirited pensioner is vowing to continue a fight over Stockton council work to repair pavements.

Mr Johnny Johnson this week blasted a District Audit report as "feeble."

He said he would go on fighting over his claims that the authority spent £700,000 repairing pavements which should have been made good under a cable firm warranty.

Mr Johnson, who lives in Tunstall Road, Hartburn, is angry that the DA report, while accepting his claims, did not pinpoint reasons for the council's failings.

After a meeting this week, Mr Johnson said he was happy with the discussion.

"I am disgusted with that report and still arguing with the District Audit because it is so feeble," he said. "But I have finished arguing with the council which has treated me fairly."

The report, which went before the council's select committee on Monday, stacked up a list of measures the council needs to take to avoid such a situation recurring. Members heard a whole new system was now in place to head off future problems.

Mr Johnson told the meeting that cable firm Comcast, now NTL, had to guarantee leaving highways as good as before work began. Work was guaranteed for two years.

His own road was dug up, leading to residents complaining about the footpaths. With six months of warranty still to run, he said, the council spent £40,000 re-paving the paths.

He raised the matter with the District Audit, leading to the present review.

From council records he identified 90 roads where pavements had been re-paved within the Comcast warranty. "This cost taxpayers £700,000 unnecessarily," he said.

"The warranties could not have been taken into account. The council undertook work which was the responsibility of Comcast and was negligent in doing so."

District Audit spokesman, Mr Rodney Walker, said: "We did not find sufficient evidence to warrant trying to prove negligence in the courts."

He said there were failures regarding the council doing work within guarantee periods.

"The report does not say what has been lacking or where the paperwork has gone wrong," said Mr Johnson.

The council's assistant transportation director, Mr Mike Robinson, said: "I disagree warranty periods were ignored, but I do agree records were not kept that these decisions were taken in a managed way."

The chairman, Coun Mrs Sheila Corr, told Mr Johnson: "It is largely because of your efforts that we have a revised system in place."

Coun Terry Bean said: "It is amazing no system was set up so that all these inspections were done and liaisons made. Things have been put right now but it leaves us with a nasty taste when things come to light which should have been picked up years ago.

"We should not have had to wait for a member of the public to tell us where we were going wrong."

Mr Robinson said money had not necessarily been wasted. "If they found any defects they were followed through," he said.

Coun Bean asked: "Just how much has all this cost?"

Mr Robinson said: "The 90 schemes costing £700,000 is correct but what, if any, part of that was wasted we don't know.