The damaged road sign at Sankey's Corner. Pic: Steve Norman
The damaged road sign at Sankey’s Corner. Pic: Steve Norman

A damaged and dangerous road sign in Burntwood needs removing urgently, councillors have been warned.

The wooden structure at Sankey’s Corner was damaged a week ago, leaving a sharp spike sticking up.

But despite pleas from Labour councillor Sue Woodward, the damaged sign has been left untouched for a week.

“It’s both dangerous and unsightly,” Cllr Woodward said. “I reported it last Monday morning and it has still not been made safe.

“Now we’re being told that it will be inspected more quickly than it might be, but the photo’s are clear to see.

“I just want the broken sign removed and the stumps made safe. We can talk about whether it should be replaced after that or not but urgent action is needed now.”

Cllr Woodward also expressed her disappointment at the damage to the sign after an effort to improve the area.

Cllr Sue Woodward
Cllr Sue Woodward

“We don’t know whether it was pushed over or whether a car hit it,” she said. “But I was saddened to see this as a number of councillors have been working on improvements at Sankey’s Corner for about two years now.

“Although the shopping centre is privately owned and councils are limited in what they can do, Staffordshire County Council replaced drainage across the frontage of the shopping area in Februar last year which has prevented the awful flooding that used to happen, and the benches and bins have been replaced by Lichfield District Council.

“We were hoping that more work could be done to renovate the signs around the traffic-restricted area but one has now gone.”

Mark Deaville, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet support member for Highways, said: “We are aware of the issue and we will be dealing with it as soon as possible.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.