A BUS campaigner has been told to leave stops alone or face legal action after installing his own makeshift signs.

Peter Kay, secretary of Colchester Bus Users’ Support Group, spent five hours replacing timetables and route markers after Essex County Council removed them.

But rather than thanking him, the council tore them all down and has threatened him with legal action if he does it again.

Mr Kay said: “Not content with providing no digestible information, the council sent somebody out to rip down all the notices I had spent five hours putting up.

“People were left helpless.

“On top of that, the telematic screens, those that work, are still showing buses at the old stops and timetables are showing the old routes at many stops.

“The utter contempt shown by the council to bus users is worsening every year.”

Bus routes, stops and information have been changed to accommodate Colchester’s park and ride.

Signs were removed by the council, but replacements were not put up at the same time.

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “Replacement route tiles were put up in Colchester town centre at all designated bus stops.

“They were in place before the park and ride opened on Monday.

“Some bus stops have no route tiles attached because they are drop-off locations only.

“All bus stops were reviewed ahead of the launch to ensure they are in the most suitable locations.”

The council, in response to Mr Kay’s efforts, added: “We consider it vandalism when somebody deliberately defaces our bus stop signs. It costs about £100 every time we need to replace a simple Perspex frame.

“If it happens again, we will need to consider taking more official action to prevent further damage.”