FRUSTRATED residents are at the end of their tether after a gas company allegedly dumped rubble in woodland and failed to take action on sinkholes.

Mum-of-two Abbie Kirby, who lives in Alyssum Walk, Colchester, said she has contacted both Cadent Gas Network and the company to whom the works have been subcontracted, Forefront.

But the 28-year-old said nothing has been done to fill sinkholes, clear discarded rubble and repair damaged lampposts in Greenstead, with residents’ frustrations starting to show.

She said: “They’ve dumped rubble in the woods, they don’t lay concrete properly, and they’ve taken out a lamppost.”

The works, which involve replacing 9,000km of gas mains, started in July.

But Mrs Kirby explained the problems since then have been numerous and avoidable, with Essex Highways telling her it may be eight months before they can repair some of the damage made by Cadent’s heavy goods vehicles.

“When they have been doing works near my house, they tried to get an HGV down the pathway – they couldn’t get past a lamppost, they reversed straight over the top of it.

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“Essex Highways have said it’s going to be eight months before they can get a replacement there because they’ve ripped the lamppost clean off the ground.”

Mrs Kirby added sinkholes have also appeared since the works took place.

“Over [the course of] two months, the pavement has slowly sunk and sunk - me and my neighbours are sick of it.”

A Cadent Gas spokesman admitted staff had come across challenges during the project.

He said: “This project is very complex and as well as working alongside other utility companies, there have also been engineering challenges.

“We have worked closely with the community and since the start of the project in May, we have only received two customer complaints.

“Unfortunately, there was an incident where a lamppost was damaged.

“We are working closely with [the local authority] to ensure it is fixed as soon as possible.”

He added: “We would urge anyone who has any concerns to contact our dedicated customer service team, who are here to support the community for the duration of the project.”