DEMANDS have been made for Network Rail to “live up to your promises” by fixing an “unsafe” car park laden with potholes – which it pledged to repair FIVE years ago.

Angry councillors in Alvechurch say the rail firm promised to refurbish the village’s train station car park when the Redditch Branch Enhancement Scheme was passed in 2013.

Work is yet to be carried out five years later, causing “misery” for residents who are being left to trawl through potholes and standing water dubbed the ‘lake of Alvechurch’.

Kate Van der Plank, district councillor for Alvechurch Village, said: “For five years, the appalling state of the car park has caused inconvenience and misery.

“It is unsafe because of the deep pot holes and standing water.

“Because the car park is unsurfaced, there are no marked bays which includes no designated disabled spaces, making the station virtually impossible to access for disabled people.

“It's inexcusable they have failed to deliver on what was a clear condition of their original planning consent. They should be utterly ashamed.”

Alvechurch Parish Council say they have been told by Network Rail that the improvements haven’t been carried due to costs of the Redditch Branch Enhancement Scheme.

Andy Humphries, council chair, said: “Network Rail has treated Alvechurch people very badly.

“The company agreed to fulfil the original planning obligations in 2013/14, it made repeated promises to us after that and finally reneged on those promises in 2016/17, claiming the work would now cost £750,000.

“As part of the original rail enhancement project, it would have cost a fraction of that.”

Charles Hotham, county councillor for Alvechurch, added: “This situation is appalling.

“Network Rail have a sorry history of poor budgeting. Why should the less-able suffer because Network Rail can’t add up properly?”

But funding has never been in place to carry out the work, according to Network Rail.

A spokesman said: “We are continuing to repair the free-of-charge car park at Alvechurch station. This includes filling in pot holes as and when they arise.

“The car park is gravel so there are no line markings.

“Contrary to claims, we have never had any funding in this five-year regulatory period, 2014 to 2019, to deliver the £750,000 drainage and surfacing scheme required to fully remove the ‘lake of Alvechurch’ flooding problem, which is caused by underlying clay preventing rainfall running away.

“As a taxpayer-funded organisation we are simply not able to spend such a large sum of money without allocated funds.

“We have told local councillors this, adding that if local funding can be found then we’d gladly deliver it jointly.

“In the absence of funding we have carried out some interim work to help ease the problem.”