A SMASHED manhole cover has been repaired a week after a mother demanded urgent action.

The cover was shattered last Tuesday when a van drove over the pavement outside her home in Brookway, Blackburn, and broke the cover in two.

Police later put two cones around the hole but these were been thrown into the hole.

A week later the hole was still exposed, despite resident Ann Smith making calls to Blackburn with Darwen Council asking for it to be repaired.

Mrs Smith covered the hole with a wooden board.

She said: "My feelings are if I hadn't put that board down nothing would have been done. Somebody could have broken their neck. I would class this as an emergency."

Mrs Smith, a legal secretary, said she contacted the highways department on Wednesday and was told action would be taken.

She said: "I explained it was an urgent matter as someone was bound to get injured and I was told someone would come to assess the situation."

Mrs Smith rang again and claims this time she was told that the manhole was not their problem, and was advised to contact private firm Twin Valley, which recently took over ownership of the borough council homes.

She added: "A lot of children play on the street and a lot of old people use the footpath."

Mrs Smith, who lives with son Andrew, 19, and daughter Chelsea, 14, said the problem was worsened by inadequate lighting.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council said they were investigating.