A RESIDENTS’ association has hit out over the safety of open drains after a young child fell down one earlier this year.

Several hazardous uncapped drains have been identified across the Fairfield Park estate in Stotfold.

Despite attempts at trying to make the manholes safe, Cllr Barrie Dack, of Stotfold Town Council, raised the issue at a full council meeting last Wednesday.

Cllr Dack said: “PJ Livesey [the developers] have left the site and are saying it is not their responsibility, Central Beds Council (CBC) are saying it is not theirs and we are left with so many things that are wrong and nobody wants to take responsibility for them.”

Chairman of Fairfield Park Residents’ Association, Chris Titmus, said: “As luck would have it, there was an off duty police officer around on the day the young child fell into the drain. The child was unharmed, but left shaken.”

Mr Titmus said the issue was highlighted to CBC at the time and a letter from Stotfold Town Council was also sent to the Health and Safety Executive but so far this has fallen on deaf ears.

Some drains have been covered with orange netting but Mr Titmus said they are not visible and are not properly marked out. He said the netting would not sustain an adult’s or a child’s weight if they were to fall in the manhole.

A spokesman for CBC said the land at Fairfield was private land which had not been adopted by the council.