RUDE graffiti has appeared around a series of potholes on a town road.

Residents in Wivenhoe, known for its creative and arts scene, woke up to find the phallic symbols around the potholes in The Avenue.

The graffiti appeared around the road defects over the weekend and amused residents were quick to name the artist with a pseudonym linked to the name of street artist Banksy.

Wivenhoe ward councillor Mark Cory, who is also leader of Colchester Council, said while the outlandish graffiti was funny, serious action was needed to be taken to fill in the craters.

He urged Essex County Council to invest money in roads across the area.

“The graffiti may cause offence to some and a wry smile to many others,” he said.

“I can laugh at the new graffiti, but being let down for months and months by Essex County Council is more offensive to me.

“I have reported these potholes over the past year, they filled some, but left many to grow larger and more dangerous.

“Driving into Wivenhoe is now an obstacle course, at least this new graffiti marks out the potholes to avoid.

“It is unacceptable Essex County Council had to be shamed into action.”

Gazette:

Mr Cory suggested the powers for highways could be handed over to Colchester Council.

He added: “I understand they have a large county to cover, but these holes have been an issue for a year now.

“They must invest properly in long lasting repairs and prioritising roads used most by communities.”

An Essex Highways spokesman said: “Drawing pictures around defects in a road can be both distractingly dangerous to drivers and offensive to passers-by, especially children.

“It doesn’t make any difference to our road maintenance priorities as we deal with defects using a risk assessment process that enables us to deal with the worst problems first.

“Essex Highways will be sending engineers out imminently to do some ‘make safe’ repairs to some of the potholes in the road.

“Whilst there we will also seek to disguise or remove the offending images.

“The best way for residents to report potholes to Essex Highways is by using our report a pothole website www.essexhighways.org/tell-us/report-pothole.aspx.”