Road workers Tarmac around parked car

Bemused council workers ended up resurfacing a road in West Bromwich around a parked car this week. The car had been left in the way, despite residents being told about the road closure - and the road being closed off. The work crew left the car marooned in the middle of the new tarmac until more council workers towed it away the next day.

The council had written to residents, and put flyers on local cars. The road was also closed off, with plenty of signs warning people not to park there. This driver, however, seems to have missed them all.

The scene was photographed by a local resident, who told the Birmingham Mail that the council workers left the car, and resurfaced the road around it. Only when the car owner failed to vacate the spot a day later did they decide to have it towed away so they could finish the job.
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Bizarre road repairs

This is not a new problem for council contractors repairing roads or painting lines. It's a relatively unusual solution - but these aren't the only council workers to have taken an odd approach to the problem.

In August this year, workers for Oldham Council made a similar decision. One family left their car in the road when they went on holiday for a fortnight. When they returned, they found the council had resurfaced the road around it, and just decided to leave the strip under their car. The council said it would rectify the mistake soon.

The same thing happened in Torbay two years earlier. At the time a council spokesperson said that the Tarmac is made in advance, so when they arrive they have to go ahead. It wasn't clear, however, why the car couldn't be moved.

Back in May last year, we reported on the woman who had left her car parked in the way of council contractors who were painting brand new double yellow lines in West Didsbury. They had her car moved to the other side of the road, where there were already double yellow lines, so she was promptly given a parking ticket.

In December, the double yellow lines painted down Chipping Sodbury High Street were decidedly wiggly. There weren't any cars parked on the street, because there were already faded double yellow lines in place. However, one area of the street has a row of off-street parking, and where the backs of cars were overhanging the road, contractors just painted around them.