Vandals put pedestrians at risk

Retired postman Bruce Bowles, (pictured) 61, who lives near the manhole on Chepstow Road, Maindee, says someone will end up being seriously injured unless something is done. BT workmen put up a warning sign and protective barrier around the 3ft by 3ft square manhole, and covered it with a wooden board.

But Mr Bowles says the barriers was kicked around by drunken yobs and the plywood board thrown off.

Some of the sections of the barrier were thrown in to Mr Bowles' garden by the vandals. The BT manhole cover is damaged and has a missing section large enough for a pedestrian's foot to fall through.

Mr Bowles said: "Vandals have been ripping it to pieces. The barriers have been left for more than three weeks and no one seems to give a damn.

"There is a blind lady who has to negotiate her way past with her black labrador every morning. It's disgusting that it's been left like this.

"It's a very busy area and anyone with a wheelchair would be forced out into the road." Some of the barrier sections are owned by Cardiff-based excavation firm Balfour Beattie Power Network (BBPN). After being contacted by the Argus yesterday the firm sent out workmen to try to rectify the problem.

But the company stressed its barriers were being used without consent and that it was not involved with the work on the manhole.

BBPN South Wales contracts manager Phil Elliott said: "Our barriers are taken from sites quite often and used elsewhere so we are not associated with this work.

"We have not been able to re-erect the barriers as some of the panels have been stolen but we have replaced the wooden board and put up the posts around the manhole."

Other barriers were marked as the property of Newport city council. A council spokesman said: "We are aware of the problem as we do regularly check the pavements. We have been asking for BT to sort this out." A BT spokesman said they were looking into the matter.