Water mains works in Dunmow have caused 'a lot of grief' for residents, with traffic and bus routes disrupted by road closures.

Station Road was closed from Monday, June 24 until Sunday, July 21 while Affinity Water repaired a water main.

The closures resulted in no bus service to Little Dunmow - including school bus routes 133 and 16, with schoolchildren having to be driven to Stebbing to meet the Chelmsford bus, while residents had to walk three-quarters of a mile for buses to Dunmow, Braintree or Stansted.

Residents of Flitch Green were also left with a six-mile detour to get to Dunmow.

According to Little Dunmow Parish Council, the detour route caused 'a lot of grief', leading to extreme congestion in Felsted, while small roads that are unsuitable for heavy traffic - such as North End - turned into "rat runs".

Cllr Chris Criscione, Uttlesford district councillor for Flitch Green and Little Dunmow, raised concerns about the safety of diversion routes and said: "The law means that the utility companies must have access to their infrastructure, but I would beg the very serious question about why the county council would permit a full road closure.

"Development is cropping up all over Uttlesford, and this - clearly- is leading to more disruption as they are constructed.

"It has reached boiling point."

Meanwhile, the parish council is looking ahead to other closures planned for August, and asking whether changes could be made to minimise disruption.

Suggested changes include ensuring work is carried out urgently, fining contractors if there are avoidable delays, creating pedestrian detour routes and ensuring that bus companies can still serve rural communities.

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A spokesperson for Affinity Water said: "This is just the first part of the job, and we're waiting for more details about the next steps.

"Our main priority is delivering clean and safe water to homes. We plan our work with the local authorities to make sure new water mains are set up properly.

"These road closures and traffic changes are needed to carry out the works. We try our best to communicate this ahead of time and keep disruptions to a minimum."