Angry locals fed up after waiting a month for a dug-up road to be fixed have branded workmen “lazy c****” in a message sprayed on the street.
Workers dug a hole to investigate a leak in Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, about a month ago, but locals claim engineers closed the road and then downed tools, leaving a digger and mound of gravel on the blocked route. The spray-painted message appeared on the road on Friday (December 8) reading: “Fix the road. Lazy c****.”
One person posted their explanation on social media site X: “About a month ago, Scottish Water dug a very deep hole at the end of Dalmeny Street to investigate a leak, closed the road and then downed tools. This morning, the locals have now spoken.”
Pictures from the road show barriers at the end of the street, which is less than half a mile from Hibernian FC’s Easter Road ground in the Leith area of the Scottish capital.
A mechanical digger remains in place while fencing and red barriers shut off the road to vehicles. The X-user added: “For context. There’s been no activity here since the hole was shored up.”
Another social media user commented: “Given the circumstances, I feel the locals are showing admirable restraint.” To which the original poster replied: “Absolutely. If it’s an emergency hole, fix it. If not, backfill it and clear the site to fix later.”
Scottish Water said it has been doing surveying and cleaning work at weekends on a section of sewer blocked by a buildup of fat, oil and grease.
The firm said work started on November 1. Since then, the excavation has increased in a bid to clear the blockage.
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “A section of the sewer in Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh has been blocked by a build up of fat, oil and grease.
“Due to the complex layout of the network and scale of the blockage, our teams have been unable to clear it, despite attending on several occasions and increasing the size of the excavation.
“We understand local frustrations about the length of time this work is taking, and are working with our contractors to get the final work and repairs carried out as quickly as possible.”
They added blockages such as the one in Dalmeny Street can be avoided. The spokesperson continued: “We urge customers to dispose of their cooking fats, oils and grease in the bin or recycling rather than down the drain.”
