A CONSTRUCTION company has been criticised over the muddy condition of a road.

Complaints to Shepherd Construction were renewed following a road accident on Cowpen Bewley Road, Billingham, which is used by construction traffic where a market garden is being built.

Thursday night's accident, which resulted in one person sustaining minor injuries, led to renewed calls to the building firm to clean up its act.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "The condition of the road was affected by the mud and this was highlighted to the (Stockton) council and they acted on that.

"We highlighted it to the council after the accident and asked them to take action on it at 11 minutes past six and by eight o'clock, it was done. The road was cleaned to a satisfactory standard. But concern was raised by police officers at the scene and this was taken up by the council.''

A Stockton Borough Council spokesman said: "Contractors have a legal obligation to maintain roads, which are being used by site traffic, at a clean condition. We have conducted regular inspections of this road and Shepherd Construction has agreed to carry out regular daily road cleaning, as well as employ a mobile wheel-washer to make sure mud left on the road is kept to a minimum.''

A spokeswoman for Shepherd said: "We are obviously aware there has been a problem with mud on the road and that is not helped with two entrances to the site, as we have handed over part of the building to the client.

"With an increase in traffic on that road, we have a put a sweeping operation in place that takes place throughout the day in an effort to keep the road clean."