IF there was a competition for the most neglected road in the West End of Darlington, I am sure that Milbank Road would win hands down.

Even in periods of moderate rainfall, the road is flooded due to the fact that the gutters and gullies are blocked with last winter’s leaves because the road is never cleaned, something it has in common with a lot of other roads in the area.

The reason apparently is that there are parked cars preventing access for machinery.

These are not residents’ cars but the overflow from the Memorial Hospital. Residents have, and use, off-street parking.

I would have thought a solution to this would be a short-term road closure to enable the necessary clean up, after all Milbank Road was closed for weeks at a time while the cycle track was being constructed on Woodland Road.

Perhaps the person in charge of the department responsible for street cleaning should come and take a look at the mess their failure has caused.

Perhaps they have never heard of preventative maintenance.

In the meantime, we will continue to walk on dangerously slippery footpaths, wade through the floods at the junction of Milbank Road and Pierremont Crescent, and of course, continue to pay our high council tax for which we are receiving very little in return.

Ian Wood, Darlington