ROADWORKS are being carried out this weekend to correct previous maintenance work which resulted in excessive dust and loose chippings.

The A131 between Sudbury Road in Halstead and Ballingdon Hill in Sudbury will be closed over the weekend to rectify the bodged surface dressing carried out earlier this month after stone chippings failed to stick to the bitumen layer beneath it.

The remedial job will see workers spend Saturday redressing the road before sealing it on Sunday and will be at the expense of the contractor tasked with carrying out the initial work.

As a result, drivers are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys, consider alternative routes and look out for road signs suggesting diversions and closure times.

Councillor Kevin Bentley, Essex County Council cabinet member for infrastructure, said: “I apologise to everyone affected by these problems.

“I insisted immediately on a full investigation and that this work must be done as soon as we understood the problem, at the contractor’s expense, to put it right.

“The new process with an extra sealing coat will embed the stones more quickly and produce a better surface in the end.

“We have previously surface dressed hundreds of miles of roads of all types in Essex with this national standard treatment without problems, but the lessons from this short period have been well learned.

“Thank you to all motorists and residents who have used common sense to put up with these issues with immense patience."

On Monday and Tuesday similar work will be done on Lexden Road in Colchester and between Monday and Wednesday on Circular Road.

Work on Swann Street will also be carried out between Tuesday and Thursday.