Fuming residents are threatening to not pay their council tax over the state of their streets.
Householders living in three roads in Norris Green, Liverpool say the streets have not been resurfaced in years despite numerous letters urging the council to make it happen.
Now the neighbours are vowing to withhold their council tax if nothing is done, the Liverpool Echo reports.
James Gee, 83, who lives in one of the streets, Beversbrook Road, said: "We have been asking for years for the council to resurface the roads and had nothing but pathetic excuses.
"This year alone on Beversbrook Road, we have paid £180,000 in council tax. Next year it will be even more, because each year the council increases it. And yet they say they have got no money to repair the roads.
"Now, my neighbours and I are threatening to not pay the tax at all, because we have had enough of being ignored."
James said he and his neighbours had sent "dozens" of letters to Liverpool City Council about the state of the roads, which have been left looking like "a patchwork" due to potholes opening up and being filled in with tarmac.
"If you write, you don't get an answer. If you phone, they don't phone back," he said.
"The road has been left alone for so long that when it rains, instead of the rain flowing off the road, it soaks into the cracks. Then in the winter the water freezes which causes the road to break up. There are patches all over the road. The structure has totally gone."
Now the neighbours' complaints have extended to the pathways, as recent roadworks to install new electrical cables meant parts of the path had to be dug up and refilled, creating an unsightly contrast between the old and new tarmac.
James, a retired engineer and grandfather-of-four, said: "They dug a trench the length of the road, to put the cables in and filled the trench with black tarmac, so we've got a long stream of black tarmac running down the middle of the pavement. It looks disgusting."
A spokesman for Future Electrics Ltd, carrying out the electrical works on behalf of Scottish Power, said they had simply replaced tarmac with tarmac - and that the prospect of the pathway being resurfaced with paving stones was a matter for Liverpool City Council.
They said: "I can understand where they are coming from because the roads are in bad repair, but that's not my issue."
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said Beversbrook Road was included in this year's highways improvement schedule.
He added: "With regards to the reinstatement following Scottish Power works, they are required to reinstate like for like. If a footpath, we would not replace it with flags as they are more of a maintenance issue, especially if there are trees nearby.
"We would not advise anyone to withhold council tax, as this could result in legal action for non-payment."
