Roughshod road resurfacing called to task by St Albans homeowners

Residents of a road which has been resurfaced say that it now looks like a pock-marked face after a county council contractor carried out the work last month.

The surface on Tavistock Avenue, St Albans, looks worse than it did before, according to resident Dan Ashworth.

He said: “The roads around here are awful. They really needed something done but I was quite surprised when I noticed the lorry outside.

“I thought it was strange because it’s not a busy road.”

According to Dan, the contractors were in and out again before lunchtime and hadn’t left any barriers up to warn drivers that the surface was freshly laid.

“I drove over it and it wasn’t set,” he said. “It was still moving.”

Potholes on the road had apparently been filled with hot bitumen by contractor, Ringway, using a method of resurfacing which is supposed to dry within hours, allowing cars to use the surface much quicker.

The technique is supposed to allow workers to attend to more jobs throughout the county, but residents are unhappy with the cosmetic effects.

The work on Tavistock Avenue follows a string of poor resurfacing jobs in the St Albans conservation area which have sparked angry complaints from residents and councillors alike.

The Herts Ad reported last month on work that had been carried out on Abbey View, Ladysmith and Kimberley Roads and Folly Avenue which saw fresh tarmac laid on top of 100-year-old cobbles.

County cllr, Sandy Walkington, described last month’s work as looking like a “dog’s breakfast” while a resident described it as “ghastly black sludge”.