A NEW solar powered warning system has been installed at The Strood.

The flashing light will be activated automatically when water floods over the road and covers the sensor.

It is designed to inform drivers when it is unsafe to cross in an attempt to reduce the number of incidents at the crossing.

The Strood is the only road on and off Mersea Island, but at particularly high tides it is covered by seawater.

Drivers often misjudge the depth and get stuck in the water, sometimes requiring rescue by the emergency services.

Eddie Johnson, cabinet member for highways at Essex County Council, said: “The depth markers will help drivers judge the deeper floods, but shallower flooding can be difficult to see at night.

“The new solar light will come on automatically so the drivers can better see the flood water, giving them time to slow down and take a decision on when to cross.

"A solar-powered light is cheaper to run and also better in the local wildlife environment as it only comes on when useful.”

Funding of £4,000 was agreed for the system, the first of its kind in Essex, Last year £10,000 was spent on signs and markers.

The funding was widely welcomed when it was announced earlier this year.

Martin Wade, lifeboat operations manager for the RNLI at the West Mersea station, described in at "an excellent idea" and "something we have wanted for a long time".

He told the Gazette they are called out several times every year after drivers are caught out.

He said: "They are not going to drown but there are often children frightened when the waves hit the car.

“We have had people rescued from car roofs and the lights are something that have been talked about for years."

And John Jowers, county and district councillor for Mersea, pointed out the consequences of going into two or three feet of water at high speed can be "catastrophic".

“We have people doing 60 to 70mph who don’t see it is flooded.

However there are fears drivers will continue to ignore the warning and still take the risk.

The funding was approved out of the reduced budget given to Colchester's local highways panel.