DUST clouds in Cowling have been compared to watching a “Western film without the tumbleweeds”!

A number of complaints from villagers followed an early July surface dressing treatment on the A6068 by North Yorkshire Country Council (NYCC) Highways.

“It was very bad,” said village lengthsman, Dave Hitchcocks. “It was a proper dust storm, like you see in a Western film. All that was missing was the tumbleweeds!”

“There was a huge amount of dust,” said Graham Robinson, who works at Park Road Garage in Cowling. “You could taste the dust in your mouth and throat.”

“You couldn’t go outside and people had to have their windows and doors closed,” said Cowling parish clerk, Andrew Mallinson. “Elderly people with breathing difficulties suffered.”

An NYCC Highways spokesman said after a surface dressing treatment on July 2, the bituminous binder used to bond an application of chippings to the road surface had started to “bleed”, which meant the binder could have started sticking to vehicle tyres and stripping the newly-laid road bed.

The decision was then taken to re-apply some additional chippings.

The spokesman added: “I appreciate the application of this smaller aggregate does generate a dust cloud, especially being a hot, dry day. We do try to restrict its use as applying too much can also subject the dressing to fail.

“A surface dressing bed is most vulnerable to failure during the early stages following completion, and it is imperative the correct aftercare is taken to counteract any potential risk of failure.

“We would normally try not to carry this out in heavy urban areas but the site on the A6068 at Cowling is, although within a 30mph speed limit, still a very high risk site, with numerous corners through the village and a high level of LGV usage.”

However, the additional chippings created another problem for residents.

“Grit was flying up onto the pavements,” said Mr Hitchcocks. “I got hit four times in the arms and legs by little bits of stone. It was quite dangerous and could have caused a lot of damage.”

“I had a friend who was riding a pushbike and he said it was like being pebble-dashed,” added Mr Robinson.

But the Highways spokesman maintained the council was following proper procedures to protect the newly-laid road surface.

He said: “I can assure you what was applied to the road surface on the weekend of July 3 was not a corner-cutting, budget-saving exercise at the risk of public health, but an industry-wide preventative practice to safeguard the surface dressing bed that was laid through the village on July 2.”