PARISH councillors have moved sort out a mix-up over benches in a dale village lane which led to them coming in for criticism.
At a previous meeting of Staindrop Parish Council, the state of a seat in Cleatlam Lane was highlighted as posing a danger to anyone using it. A resident mistakenly thought the council’s comments were directed at a seat her family had put out with a scarecrow sitting on it as part of an event to keep people’s spirits up. In a letter to the Mercury, the householder said she was “disappointed” by the parish council’s comments. However, at last month’s meeting Cllr Ed Chicken explained that he was referring to another seat in Cleatlam Lane, and showed colleagues a picture of the bench, which also highlighted its poor state of repair.
“It is virtually inaccessible due to the undergrowth around it,” he said.
Clerk Judith Mashiter added: “There has been a bit of confusion over what the public think we were talking about. We were not talking about the seat with the scarecrow.”
Chairman Cllr David Reed said: “The lady has picked up the wrong end of the stick.”
Ms Mashiter said the issue had been raised with Durham County Council and it was on a list of work which would be addressed after lockdown.
