Worthing residents angered by 'appalling road resurfacing' work after pothole appears

John Frew, of Hurst Avenue, wrote to the Worthing Herald to ‘highlight the appalling road resurfacing work’ outside his home.

He said residents were informed last week that workmen would arrive on Wednesday (July 19) to complete resurfacing works – which were expected to take three days to complete.

But John said the workers left at 6pm after six hours of work, which appeared uncompleted.

Drains on the side of the road were covered over with tarmac and the increased height in the middle of the road has created recesses where covers are situated.

"They have left half of the drains covered up so we’ve had flooding over the weekend because water couldn’t go down the drains,” John said.

"The ones they have uncovered, we’ve been left with an inch and a half sized pothole where we didn’t have one before. They’ve created a pothole.

"In my humble opinion, it was worse than it was before they started the work. It’s ridiculous.

"How the gaffer of that crew can say, good jobs guys, let’s move onto the next road, I don’t know.

"It really is appalling. I’ve had no response from West Sussex Highways. It’s just shocking. I’m not someone who makes complaints but this really isn’t good at all.”

West Sussex County Council has since issued a statement to this newspaper.

A spokesperson said: “The work that took place in Hurst Avenue was micro-asphalt surface treatment. Prior to the work starting residents received a letter which explained this type of treatment with a link to further information that may address their concerns on our website.

“To allow for potential disruption from poor weather conditions, we scheduled a three-day period for the work to take place, however, as we were fortunate with the weather, the works were completed in one day.

“The surface treatment itself is complete but there are follow-up actions still outstanding, which are a standard part of the micro-asphalt process.

"This includes uncovering and adjusting any drains and manholes that are now lower than the new surface and replacing the road markings.

"These follow-up works typically take place two to four weeks after the main treatment. We also carry out inspection on all completed works to ensure they are carried out to the expected quality.

"With micro-asphalt, we aim to do this one to two weeks after completion rather than immediately, given the bedding in period the material requires.”