RESIDENTS and motorists in Stanford-le-Hope found themselves looking at a familiar landmark this morning (Tuesday, 27 June) as roadworks once more brought a busy road to a standstill during the rushhour.

Once again engineers have been forced to dig up a part of London Road in the town - in the same place where residents have previuously been assured remedial work has fixed a problem.

A public notice issued by Thurrock Council this week once again announced that traffic lights would be put in place on the busy road and traffic blocked on two adjoining access roads.

And in the early morning today, workers moved into to start more repairs on a gas main that residents were previously told had been renewed and wouldmn't need to be dug up in the foreseeable future.

The latest work is expected to last until 5 July.

London Road in Stanford-le-Hope

The number of the times that the road has been dug up has perplexed residents and local councillors.

In 2019 the ward councillor Shane Hebb and his colleague Cllr Terry Piccolo quizzed Cadent Gas over the number of times the road was beeing repeatedly dug up and were told the work was : "Mains replacement work that would only need to be completed once and once that's done we wouldn't need to dig this up again."

The councillors were warned that the road might be dug up if there was an emergency, probably involving a serious leak, and that appears to have been what has happened.

Ward councillors have also previously questioned the volume of heavy traffic on the road, which is supposed to have a 7.5 ton limit other than for access, but many HGV use it as an access to the Stanhope Industrial estate. TYhey beleive it may be possible that the voulme of traffic is in part responsible for the failed pipeline. However, Thurrock Council has refused to take enforcement action against HGVs, saying it is not its responsibility.

Cadent have been asked to comment but have not responded so far.