Residents on a Stoke-on-Trent estate say long-standing problems with a brook and public open space are being ignored, despite repeated warnings about flooding and safety risks.

Now calls are being made for Stoke-on-Trent City Council to take action on the Newstead estate.

During periods of heavy rain, Newstead Brook, which runs through the estate, regularly floods the area's only park. Water spills onto Waterside Drive and Yeldham Place and residents say it is also causing damage to nearby properties.

Last year local company Goodwin International revamped the park with new safety pads, goal posts, and equipment.

The work was intended to make the space safer and more welcoming for families, but residents say repeated flooding is now damaging the improvements.

Chris Hall, who has lived on the Newstead estate for 55 years said: "Two or three years ago I raised the issue about the condition of the park and brook down there because when we get heavy rain it floods the park, floods the road and it's just an unkept area.

"As it goes across the back of the houses it floods gardens, there are people who have reported that fences have started falling into the waterway.

"The council did start doing some work on it maybe over two years ago, however, they started it but never finished because of weather conditions. It just seems like a cop out to me personally.

"Our councillors have thought long and hard, it's been raised multiple times and they keep making excuses, saying that they've tried or at one point they said they've done it and they clearly hadn't.

"If somebody fell into that area they could probably go a really long time without being noticed, which is always a concern when it is kids."

Chris said he has been told previously that work on the brook hasn't been completed due to poor weather conditions and the fact that the heavy machinery needed to complete the work would get stuck or damage the area.

Separately he has been told that during the Summer months the work can't be completed due to animal breeding season.

Speaking on behalf of himself and fellow ward councillor Maxine Clarke, Councillor Dan Jellyman said: "We've raised this continually for the past three years about the brook and the condition of the brook is leading to flooding and it floods the park and then damages the play equipment and then it costs more money because we're having to repair it.

"Despite having constant promises and dates of when it's going to be done it isn't being done. It's a simple thing, all the council has got to do, and we've been told this by council officers, is go down there with a piece of equipment the council already owns and basically dredge it and they still won't do it."

Residents say the problems extend beyond the brook, with wider issues across the estate including grass verges being destroyed, broken and uneven pavements which pose a hazard for people with limited mobility, and a general lack of facilities and activities.

Mr Hall is now calling on senior councillors to visit the area and see the problems first hand.

He added: "I would really like Councillor Ashworth, the Leader of the Council, to come and take a walk around the estate with an open mind. I'm not saying we're the hardest done to in the city but we are one of the most deprived areas in the city and I think it's about time the council started spending a bit of money and getting things right down here, especially when it becomes a safety issue."

Stoke-on-Trent City Council have been approached for comment.