A HARD-working plumber has accused council contractors of shirking their responsibilities after a trailer ploughed through his fence and damaged his van.

Riccardo Grillo, 33, of Dunthorne Close, Colchester, doesn’t have a lot of time on his hands. He works two jobs as a plumber and at Cash and Carry.

But now he will have to give up a valuable day to fix his fence and van.

It isn’t finding the time to carry out the repairs which irritates him however, it is the lack of apology and responsibility taken by what he believes is the guilty party.

He suspects contractors carrying out roadworks in St John’s Road and Parsons Heath, Colchester, were to blame.

Mr Grillo was blissfully unaware of the smash when it happened at around 7pm on Thursday evening, but received a knock at the door at around 8.30pm.

A worried neighbour alerted him to the damage.

Mr Grillo said: “They saw a big blue vehicle there and and when I looked at the bumper you can see from where the mark is it must have been a commercial-sized vehicle which hit it.”

Mr Grillo took a walk to the nearby roadworks to ask workers about the damage.

He says they promised to send a site manager round to discuss the issue, but no-one showed up.

While he was at the site he noticed a blue trailer with suspicious white paint scuff marks, matching the colour of his van.

“I’m not sure we pay our council tax to have them send contractors to knock down our fences,” he said.

“To be honest I just want someone to come out and have a look, it could’ve been them, it likely was, but it might not be.

“But to ignore it is not on.

"I am pleased the hedge wasn’t damaged, that takes longer to repair as it has to grow.

“My main irritation is no-one bothered to knock on my door to say, ‘We’re very sorry’, they just seem to have left it.”

A spokesman for Essex County Council’s Highways department, which is responsible for the works, said: “We are sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident.

“We have received a complaint from a resident and will be providing them with details of the next steps they need to take in order for them to make a claim.

“Once that has happened we will be able to investigate the circumstances fully.”