Exclusive: Tar very much for fixing road to nowhere

But Bedlam Lane, a tiny farm track in the up-market village of

Staveley, near Knaresborough, is finally living up to its name.

Despite the shocking state of some 5,000 miles of roads across North Yorkshire, the County Council has started a 28,000 programme to resurface the mile-long route even though it is rarely used and finishes at a dead end.

The decision has caused some raised eyebrows in the village, particularly as Alan Jobling, a county council highways manager for Starbeck who lives in Staveley, bought a field off Bedlam Lane in 2009 and uses it to keep horses.

North Yorkshire County Council strenuously denies any favouritsm and says it was an impartial central decision to undertake the work, which has been planned since 2008.

But residents, who have just been hit with a "snow levy" on their council tax to pay for the county council's multi-million pound road maintenance bill in the wake of the big freeze, are not impressed.

Ian Wallace, who has lived opposite Bedlam Lane for 30 years, said: "It is absolutely crazy. It has never been touched before in all the time I have been here.

"I didn't even know it was treated as a road. We always just assumed it was a farm track.

"A combine harvester goes down there once a year, there are a few tractors and that's it.

"There are great ruts in the main roads all over the county and they are pouring 300 tons of tarmac down here – It is ridiculous and a total waste of money."

Nick Stringer, chair of Staveley and Copgrove Parish Council, said: "We are just curious to know why it is going on and are making enquiries.

"It is a dead end road and it seems weird it is being resurfaced. Given the state of the roads in North Yorkshire and all the potholes around, you would think they have better things to do. Some of the roads are lethal at the moment; why does this have priority?"

Bedlam Lane, which runs off Main Street, the third most expensive street in Yorkshire, winds between fields before finishing at woodland marking the start of the Spellow Hill Estate.

At the entrance to the lane is a small farm and Staveley Cricket Club. Catharine Nickols, who has been president of the club for the past three years, said: "The road isn't used too much at all, it is not a busy place, it's a road to nowhere.

"I have no idea why the council has chosen it. Our members have always been able to park in the lane and around the pitch. It has never been a problem for us and we have been very happy with the old arrangement – we don't need this doing.

"There were no signs put up warning of the work and the first I knew about this was when the tarmac wagons rolled in."

The controversial "snow levy", rubberstamped last week, means more than 258,000 households across North Yorkshire will face a 2.94 per cent rise in the new financial year instead of the planned 2.5 per cent increase.

The county council maintains the rise is still the lowest in North Yorkshire for 16 years.

The authority is faced with a 10m bill for mending the potholes – opened up by the freezing weather – and an additional 9m for gritting.

A 1m emergency fund has already been earmarked from this year's revenue budget and the "snow levy" is expected to raise a further 1m.

A county council spokesman said: "In 2008, Bedlam Lane was identified in the council's biennial survey of all highways as being in need of resurfacing, to bring it up to the standard required to fulfil the statutory obligation.

"This assessment was carried out by the county council's Network Management Team, based at County Hall.

Funding was approved centrally and a resurfacing scheme was included in the programme of Capital Maintenance Resurfacing and Reconstruction Schemes for 2009/10.

"The parish council was informed of this intention by letter on July 17, 2009.

"The Network Management Team carries out its two-yearly survey using an impartial assessment system."

Mr Jobling was contacted by the Yorkshire Post but did not wish to comment.