A FORMER mayor and council chairman has slammed repairs to a dangerous pothole as a "patch-up".

Mark Heard reported the pothole in Hatfield Road, Ulting, to Essex County Council.

The former Maldon town and district councillor says the hole was two feet wide and four inches deep. 

Workers did go and carry out repairs to the road.

But Mr Heard says the surface is already starting to break up again.

He claims the pothole is a danger to road users.

“It is still bumpy as vehicles are going over it," said Mr Heard.

"Even the repair is breaking up.

“I’ve never seen such a bad repair job. I was going to complain to the council – it’s not a repair, it’s a patch.

“But if it’s less than 50mm deep, they don’t consider it a problem.”

Mr Heard is also concerned for cyclists and motorbike riders, who are forced to "swerve into traffic" as they take evasive action.

A spokesman for Essex Highways said: "For the public’s safety, we sometimes perform temporary repairs on potholes that suddenly appear and become dangerous.

"These temporary repairs may not look like much, but they are necessary to keep our roads moving safely while permanent repairs are arranged.

“Temporary repairs can be needed when there isn’t enough time to apply for a permit to close a road or get hot asphalt to a location.

"Situations like these can require using the limited materials our call-out crews carry to address safety issues in a timely manner.

"After a temporary repair is made, we continue to monitor the condition of the pothole until a permanent repair is in place.

“In order to maximise our resources, we have to address the most urgent issues first, however, all defects reported to us are assessed by an inspector.

"We therefore encourage members of the public to report any defects through our online Tell Us tool at www.essexhighways.org/tell-us.”