THE landlords of The Bull and Dog pub say they are “frustrated and at our wits' end” as the venue’s car park has been left with huge potholes following works on the CYCLOPS junction.

Back in November, St Helens Council announced that as part of its commitment to active travel and achieving net zero by 2040, they planned to install a CYCLOPS (Cycle Optimised Protected Signals) junction in Lea Green.

It is the first of its kind in Merseyside - which has replaced the roundabout by the Bull and Dog pub.

St Helens Star:

The junction has been open since September 2023.

However during the works, landlords Sara Cunningham and Mike Fishwick claim workers used their car park to park their heavy vehicles, creating "huge potholes" which are still causing damage to their customers' vehicles five months on.

This topped off with the delay in the works has "severely damaged the business", according to Sara.

She said: “We are five months on and we are still constantly contacting the council and Civils who did the work due to how our business has been left.

“When it rains the huge potholes are filling with water and they are really deep and customers have been in complaining to us but its not something we did.

“We are so frustrated and at our wits' end to be honest because the entrance has been moved, which was fine, but before a vehicle could drive in and another could drive out, now it's only wide enough for one vehicle, that’s if with the ridiculous road markings they can find the way in.

St Helens Star:

“To top that off when they did the new entrance they messed it up somehow and it’s pretty much always flooded as they’ve now discovered the drain they put in is blocked with concrete they left.

“All of this and the delay in opening – especially after all pubs struggled during the pandemic – has severely damaged the business and we are so angry that this is all still going on.

“We have had people coming in asking for compensation because their cars are damaged from driving on the car park. How is that fair? It’s not fair on them and its not fair on us.

“We didn’t expect all of this but we are just dismissed. It’s not good enough.”

A St Helens Borough Council spokesperson said: “As part of our maintenance regime, a gully in the vicinity of the vehicular access to the public house was inspected following concerns over standing water. A connection fault was identified which officers are investigating further.

"Once this fault has been addressed and the private drain has been reconnected to the council’s highway drain, officers will then programme in various remedial works to the public house car park, as previously agreed, for the inconvenience faced during construction of the CYCLOPS junction.

“We have been in discussion with the brewery and landlord who have been kept fully updated throughout the scheme and will look to keep the car park open as much as possible to prevent disruption."