White lines painted over potholes in Abbot's Road, Colchester

The road markings along the length of Abbot's Road in the town were given a much-needed repaint on Thursday according to residents.

However, despite the road's surface being littered with numerous potholes and cracks, these appear to have been left, at least for the time being.

One resident sent a picture to the Gazette and expressed their bemusement.

He said: "New white lines were painted down the centre of the entire length of Abbot's Road, Colchester, today, including going over the many holes and cracks that plight this highway."

Abbot's Road is listed for resurfacing on Essex Highways future roadworks map.

Works, listed for between August 26 and August 28, will mean a short diversion route will be implemented overnight between 8pm and 6am.

It is not yet clear why the road markings have been repainted beforehand, however.

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An Essex Highways spokesperson said: “White lines are crucial for the safety of our road users and need to be visible.

"Our lining contractor completed repainting works on Abbots Road, Colchester as part of our road marking recovery programme. 

“This is separate from our road maintenance scheme which repairs road defects.

"If you spot a road defect, please report it at essex.gov.uk/highways so that we can get an inspector out on site to access and grade it.

"The defect will then be added to our service plan accordingly. If there are road defects to be repaired, we will reinstate the lines.”