Rochford residents have criticised Essex County Council for failing to repair a dangerous pot hole.

The surface of Rectory Avenue at the junction with Cornwall Gardens has become so worn the ironwork beneath the road surface is exposed, leaving some metal spikes sticking up out of the ground.

Despite complaints being made to the council’s highways department as far back as January, no repairs have been carried out.

Roger Gardner, a member of the Rochford campaign group, Action Groups Resisting Overdevelopment, said: “I phoned Essex highways twice last week. I was told it was a work in progress.

“I explained how dangerous this was and if a driver or cyclist did not know this was there depending on what type of vehicle they were driving at best it would be badly damaged tyres at worse could cause severe injuries.

“There was no urgency and they were blasé about the problem. They said they didn’t know when it would be done. I was told the pothole was first reported in January. It had been inspected and they know the iron work is exposed. I explained the rides are sticking up.”

Mr Gardner of Ashingdon Road, added: “The person I spoke to said he would escalate the complaint but he said it could take up to 28 days and gave me a computer link to track the progress. Are we getting value for money from this council?”

An Essex Highways spokesperson said: “This defect was picked up by our inspector in October last year, but was rated relatively low risk at the time. It may well have deteriorated since, so we have asked the inspector to return quickly to update our log. If necessary urgent repairs will be carried out.”