Council socks it to contractors

Council sub-contractors painted over the sock which was tied to the railing

Contractors commissioned to re-paint railings on Blackpool Promenade have been criticised for painting over a sock tied to one of the railings.

Blackpool Council sub-contracted a local firm to carry out the paint job but instead of removing the lone sock, they slapped silver paint on top of it.

The council said it was "hugely disappointed" by the "act of laziness".

It has ordered the firm, which it has declined to name, to remove the sock and re-paint the North Prom railing.

However, although the sock has now been untied, the contractors have yet to paint over the section of rail.

Julian Kearsley, Executive Director of Business Services at the council, said: "The council had contracted a local company to carry out this work and we are obviously hugely disappointed with this act of laziness.

"We have contacted the company who will be removing the sock and painting the railings correctly, like they should have done in the first place.

"The council is committed to cleaning up and improving Blackpool and we want to work with contractors who feel the same.

"Residents can be assured that we will be taking action to ensure embarrassing mistakes like this don't occur again in the future."