WALTHAM ABBEY: Resident's fury at yellow line map gaffe

9:44am Tuesday 20th May 2008

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YELLOW lines were painted in the wrong place by bungling workmen after they read their map upside down.

The mistake meant the parking restrictions were brought in on the wrong section of road, much to the fury of local people.

Angry residents in Broomstick Hall Road, Waltham Abbey, said they were appalled at the blunder and are still complaining about the mess left by the contractors.

The parking restrictions were meant to be painted along a dangerous corner after residents appealed to Essex County Council to take action.

But those living on Broomstickhall Road were bemused to find the lines had been put down on the wrong section of road.

And when one man confronted the contractors painting the lines, he found them reading the map upside down.

To make matters worse, the lines had been painted in between parked cars, leaving gaps all along the road.

Although the council removed the incorrect lines, Bryan Shreeve, 72, who lives along the road, said the paint was still visible.

He said: "It's one hell of a mess. They burned the lines off but you can clearly see where they were. When they realised what a terrible gaffe they'd made, they came back post haste, but I find it amazing that they managed to mess it up so badly in the first place.

"I've never in my life seen a double yellow line laid down with numerous car length gaps within it. You would have thought a day or so prior to their work they could have notified residents to remove their vehicles. I'm surprised they didn't paint over the top of the cars."

Mr Shreeve is now complaining to an Ombudsman about the error and wants to know what will be done about the mess which has been left behind.

Norman Hume, the county council's highways and transportation cabinet member, said: "These yellow lines were initially placed on the wrong side of the road in error but this was rectified by our contractors immediately, at no extra cost to the county council.

"These works were done to improve safety on a junction where vehicles had previously obstructed the safe passage of the highway and will see danger reduced to those trying to use the road."

Chaos also reigned in Shakletons, in Ongar, where residents waited months for yellow lines to be painted.

When workmen eventually arrived last week, they were forced to paint in between vehicles because they failed to warn drivers that the work was to start.

Drivers then carefully parked in the non-lined sections of the cul-de-sac, before contractors returned on Tuesday to complete the job. It had been known for up to 32 cars to park in the road.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "It was just crazy, all it needed was some notice so that the people who park in the road all day were made aware of the painting.

"Now these people - despite there being a road sign stating line painting in progress' still parked in the road, manouvering into the gaps left when the contractors could not get along the whole length of the road.

"We've offered (the county council) to no waiting' bollards out overnight when the road is more or less clear but our offer was rejected, and it has taken a week for their contractors to come back and finish the job."