"These roads are awful."

Liverpool Life Not a taxi journey home goes by without the driver providing constructive criticism of the potholes around Sefton Park and the potential damage to the suspension on the cab. Appalling enough are these craters, large photographs of them appeared on the BBC News website earlier in the year. So it's not without pleasure that news comes that someone has ponied up to repair at least some of them:

"The Alicia Hotel has joined forces with the council to jointly fund resurfacing works on Aigburth Drive. The work will breathe new life into the road, between the traffic signals at Ullet Road and the roundabout at Aigburth Drive / Croxteth Drive.

"It is a major boost to the council’s aims to improve the roads around Sefton Park. The park is one of Liverpool’s most popular green spaces and was recently granted Green Heritage status. However, its roads are not adopted and as such are not maintained as part of the highway network."

Too true. Which is why said conversation with taxi drivers always go the same way ...

DRIVER: These roads are awful. The council should fix them.
US: They won't because they're not adopted. They're not part of the highway network.
DRIVER: You'd think they'd still fix them.
US: They won't because they're not adopted. They're not part of the highway network.
DRIVER: Even so ...

At least now we'll have something else we can say.