Bradford city centre street repairs to last until next year

In recent months, areas of intricate paving in the city centre have been replaced by swathes of black tarmacadam.

It was put in place by Northern Gas Networks after major underground gas works in the city that required contractors to rip up numerous pedestrian areas.

Particularly unsightly areas of temporary filling included outside Waterstones bookshop on Hustlergate, as well as on Tyrrel Street, close to Nationwide, and outside Tiffin Coffee on Bank Street, although there are several other areas in the city.

The patchwork outside Waterstones (Image: newsquest)

Northern Gas Networks had said the filling was temporary, allowing the streets to re-open fully while replacement stone was sourced.

The company said at the time “The materials required to do this are not ‘off the shelf’ products and specialist contractors are required to carry out the work.”

The temporary patching caused outrage, with many taking to social media to criticise the work and share photographs, pointing out that the patches were outside some of Bradford’s grandest buildings such as the Grade I-listed Wool Exchange.

A picture of some of the patching was shared on Twitter, erroneously stating the work had been carried out by Bradford Council.

The Tweet soon went viral, with 15,000 people liking the image, almost 2,000 people retweeting it, and 14,00 people replying to the Tweet.

Contractors have been back to the city centre in recent days, restoring sections of the paving that had been temporarily filled – including the grey slab stonework outside Waterstones.

But the work is unlikely to be completed until spring.

Chris Green, Northern Gas Networks' Operations Manager, said: “Work by our specialist contractors to reinstate the town centre pedestrian areas are progressing well and we hope to have them fully completed by March 2023.

“We’re extremely grateful for the continued patience of the local community whilst the works are carried out.”