A BAFFLED councillor has voiced his frustration at a lack of action to fix “dangerous” potholes littering roads.

Essex County Council announced earlier this month the number of potholes on the county’s main roads has dropped by nearly half.

Harwich councillor Ivan Henderson, who has long campaigned for urgent action to fix road defects in the town, said the "other half must be in Harwich and Dovercourt".

"Potholes in Gwynne Road, Main Road and along the seafront are still sitting there untouched,” he said.

"How can you grandstand over the issue like the council is doing when there is still such a problem in this area.

"These are genuinely dangerous potholes to cyclists and pedestrians.

"There is a channel of holes that runs down the centre of Main Road and if a cyclist was to catch their wheel in one of those it could potentially be fatal."

Mr Henderson also shared a picture of a pothole at the end of Gwynne Road which appears to have been painted over by workers.

Essex County Council figures show a 47 per cent drop in the number of defects on priority routes.

Crews fixed 2,627 defects on the roads in the past three months, compared to 1,638 during the previous period.

Across the county statistics showed a reduction in potholes from 4,954 to 4,597 by the end of September.

Eddie Johnson, Essex County Council cabinet member responsible for highways and transport, said: “Following a record summer for road surfacing, we have seen an impressive reduction in the number of potholes across the county.

“This has been helped further thanks to the Government’s Pothole Action Fund allowing us to send out extra repair crews.

“We understand potholes are a real frustration for drivers across the county. That is why we have not only invested in repairing potholes, but have also taken a long-term view by investing in surfacing roads to ensure they last for years to come.”