WHARFEDALE councillors have accused Leeds of "breaking promises" regarding the cleaning of road drains.

Barry Anderson (Con, Adel and Wharfedale) was told by the city council in 2012 that gullies would be cleaned at least every two years.

Now Cllr Anderson, whose ward includes Pool-in-Wharfedale, Arthington and Bramhope, has been informed the cleansing cycle is more likely to be five years – a state of affairs he attacked as "unacceptable".

He said: "I am very disappointed promises made to us that gullies would be cleansed every two years have not been kept – furthermore, we have not been told, until now, what the truth of the matter is.

"It turns out we should have been told the gully cleansing programme would be on a five-year cycle. That would never have been acceptable, and we would have made strong representation.

"I get requests on a weekly basis for gullies in various parts of the ward to be cleaned out as they are blocked with debris and mud, and cause inordinate amounts of problems when it rains heavily. To date, these have been dealt with on an ad-hoc basis.

"Some of my residents have been severely inconvenienced by water flowing into garage areas during heavy rain because the gullies cannot cope.

"I have now been told Adel and Wharfedale was last completed in December, 2012 and is currently eighth on the waiting list out of the 33 wards."

His wife, fellow councillor Caroline Anderson (Con, Adel and Wharfedale), added: "Residents rightly expect that, as a minimum, the streets will be kept clean and the gullies cleansed on a regular basis.

"This would prevent the build-up of years of mud and debris. And having such a small crew on the cleansing cycle is a false economy.”

Leeds City Council, however, says its service has been recently restructured and is now working more effectively.

A spokesman said: "The information [previously] given to councillors explained how wagons and crews had previously tackled gully cleaning.

"Due to an increasing funding budget gap, we have had to change how work is targeted and prioritised in the service, since 2012.

"The details provided do not reflect how the service is now currently working, or how resources are allocated since a wide-ranging restructure in January, 2015.

"Since the restructure, the number of gullies cleansed per day, per tanker, has increased from approximately 40 to more than 100, with further improvements set to be made on how effectively gully cleansing cycles are completed, and the introduction of in-cab technology early next year.

"The council’s locality teams are always happy to work with and discuss with councillors how the gully cleaning service is being undertaken in individual areas, and what they feel the priorities should be."