TOWN councillors have called on utility companies to be held responsible for some of Knutsford’s potholes.

Engineers working for Cheshire East Council have been busy patching and repairing the town’s roads over the past two weeks after being inundated with angry calls from townspeople.

The Guardian has highlighted the issue in recent weeks, with readers sending in pictures of the town’s worst roads, and the council has pledged that an extra £25 million would be spent over the next two years repairing the borough’s highways.

Workmen have also been out and about spraying white paint around pothole targets.

Knutsford is not the only town to be affected – residents in Middlewich have been complaining this winter about the state of their roads.

At the full meeting of Knutsford Town Council on Monday evening, councillors said that some of the fault may lie at the door of the utility companies.

Clr Stewart Gardiner said it seemed that the borough authority was having to carry out follow-up repairs.

“I have noticed damage around access chambers, used to be called man holes, and I’d like to know who is in charge of making sure they are in a good state,” he said.

“They often seem to put down second- rate Tarmac down, which means the authority then has to go back and fill them in.”

Clr Andrew Malloy agreed, adding: “Most of the damage and the holes are where services have been, and these repairs are not being done adequately.

“Cheshire East should be paying closer attention to the works that are being carried out by the utilities.”

Clr Peter Raynes, who is also finance portfolio holder at Cheshire East Council, added it was an interesting point put forward by Clr Malloy, and he would look into it.