Star date: 28th September 2015

A TALE OF TWO SUBWAYS – MEDIACITYUK AND BRINDLE HEATH

The contrast between Salford Council's attitude towards its traditional community and that of MediaCityUK couldn't be sharper than in its treatment of the city's subways.

The connecting subway between MediaCityUK and Pendleton is white and spotless, with tidy verges, litter pickers and cameras. Over at the subway connecting Brindle Heath and Langworthy it's pitch black, and there's litter and melted tarmac everywhere... "The Media City subway is very posh...you can have a meal in there" says local resident Lee Craven "But here you've got to run through it because it's unsafe and so dark..."

Full details here...

While fortunes have been spent on the subways that connect Pendleton to MediaCityUK, over in Brindle Heath, at the subway which runs under the A6 by the side of Pendleton Church, it's a completely different story.

Here, at one entrance is a dumped mattress while the other end is shadowed by overgrown bushes. There's two dingy bulbs working in the subway itself, which just about illuminate old graffiti, a pile of rubbish, loads of litter, melted tarmac, smashed glass and broken wall tiles.

Despite raising concerns with Salford Council about the unsafe subway local resident, Lee Craven, says nothing has ever been done...

"As far as I know it's been like this for about twenty years" he says "I reported it to East Salford Community Committee about 18 months ago and explained that I had major concerns about it. They said they would look into it but obviously that's not happened, so I brought it up again at last week's meeting and have even done a video* so that people can see what the subway is like.

"I walk through it about three or four times a week and when I'm on my own I run through it because you can't see the light at the other end it's so dark; it's like the black hole of Calcutta" he adds "It's very unsafe and I've got an eyesight impairment so it's even worse. It's cut the community off for vulnerable people because they won't go through it. At the end there's a mass of overgrown bushes and a lot of fly tipping material."

Down at the subways which connect Pendleton to MediaCityUK it's another story completely. Here, a litter picker was out this morning keeping the area clean, there's cameras in all the tunnels and the white walls are spotless. There's immaculate greenery around the entrances, smart steel handrails, signage and state of the art lighting...

"It's very posh, very impressive, you can have a meal in there it's that nice" Lee laughs "The Council has spent a lot of money down at Media City and it is very attractive but you come here, in the middle of Salford where it's hidden, where no-one can see it, and there's a lack of investment.

"At the Media City subway there's cameras and it's more secure, you can smile and everything" he adds "But here you've got to run through it to get out the other end because it's that dark..."

• See Lee's video – click here