A COUNCIL tenant did not know whether to laugh or cry when he was told the guttering to his house could not be repaired -- because the council had no ladders.

Gordon Higginbottom, who lives in Ashley Avenue, Breightmet, complained about a leak in the guttering recently.

But when he spoke to staff at the Withins housing association in Kentmere Road, he was told the leak could not be fixed because they did not have any ladders.

Mr Higginbottom said: "I couldn't believe it. I've had quite a few problems with my house over the years and the council is usually quite good, the vast majority of repairs having been done.

"But this leak in the guttering has still not been fixed from last October. I reported it at the time and nothing was done, so I decided to go down to the offices to tell them it really does need doing.

"I've heard of some excuses, but that one beats the rest. How can a council not own a pair of ladders?"

A council spokesman said: "Cleaning guttering is being carried out as part of a planned programme of work and Mr Higginbottom's request has been included on our current work schedule.

"We are updating our equipment, including replacing current ladders, but this has no relevance or impact on this programme."