A BURTONWOOD resident has spoken out over a decline in community spirit in the village.

Daniel Crampton, of Exmouth Way, said he feels as if the village is moving into the dark ages and has argued that ward councillors should be pushing for a bigger investment in the area.

The 36-year-old said: "When I moved to the village there was good community spirit.

"Now 10 years on, and times have changed, granted, but Burtonwood continues to struggle.

"People see nothing in Burtonwood anymore but poor transport, poor facilities, poor communication and an ebbing community spirit."

He puts this down to Burtonwood having 'one of the worst public transport networks in the Warrington area', a lack of facilities and the delayed roll out of fibre-optic broadband.

He added: "Why would you want to live in a village with no real village pub, super slow internet or a bus service that finishes at 7 on a night?

"I certainly know if I was looking to move to the village again, and know what it’s like now I would think twice."

But Burtonwood councillor Terry O'Neill has hit back at these claims, stating that there's still a strong sense of community in the village.

He said: "I'm a school governor on the two primary schools in the village and John Joyce is the chairman of Burtonwood Community Primary School where we both find a very strong sense of community within the school family."

He added that clubs such as the Burtonwood Albion Football Club, Burtonwood Bulldogs and the Burtonwood AMADS provide a special places full of community spirit.

Cllr O'Neill, who for years has been lobbying for the broadband rollout to come sooner, added: "I can assure you that both Cllr Joyce and myself fight very hard for Burtonwood and its community at the Town Hall - in fact we are affectionately known as the Burtonwood Mafia because we fight that hard.

"The issues you mention also need to be put in to context. The Warrington Council has had £70 million took off it in the last four years by this Government and we are being told we will have another £35 million taken off us by 2018.

"So unfortunately services will suffer and very difficult decisions have to be made."

Do you agree that community spirit still exists in Burtonwood?

E-mail lauren.hirst@nqnw.co.uk.