Gloucestershire County Council has denied that it showed favouritism to Prince Charles by giving special treatment to a road outside his home.
Last month the council repaired a 500-yard section of the A433 at Doughton near Prince Charles’ Highgrove Estate and according to GloucestershireLive, local residents suspect that the work was done just to favour the heir to the throne.
Antiques dealer Stephen Fitzgerald suggested the road was resurfaced just ‘so Charles can have a peaceful night’, adding 'they might as well have done it in red so you know you're driving past royalty. It's ridiculous. It's perfectly smooth. It is like a baby's bum - there isn't a ripple'.
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Prince Charles
‘You look at any piece of road that has been resurfaced anywhere and it has to be the best in the world. It's very strange, isn't it? I should imagine he's put a word in with the council.’
Another man, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I love the way they've done it. It has been of a higher quality job than other jobs we have seen. It would be lovely to see that standard of road quality everywhere.’
However residents of nearby Tetbury have said it is unfair and that the council is ignoring their pleas for improvements to their parts of the A433.
Cllr Vernon Smith, Gloucestershire CC cabinet member for highways, told local papers: ‘We have had no contact with the Highgrove Estate about the A433. This resurfacing work has been planned for two years following safety inspections and analysis of the road.
‘We also carried out much needed patching work at the junction of the Long Street, New Church Street and London Road in Tetbury town centre at the end of October. We've put an extra £2m into road repairs across Gloucestershire this year, which has helped us to increase the amount of resurfacing we're doing right across the county.’
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