Essex and Suffolk Water are planning lane closures this week at Tarpots to disconnect an old water main from the network.

I am concerned at the level of disruption this may cause for motorists so I have asked the local county councillor to speak to Essex and Suffolk Water and make sure they do everything possible to avoid closures at busy times, particularly the morning and evening rush hour. I will post an update on this when they get back to me.

Roadworks aside, I have spoken repeatedly asked Essex and Suffolk and Water to invest in our local water network to avoid disruptive burst mains clogging up our roads and I am grateful to them for having listened. They are disconnecting the old main that ran across Tarpots supplying Benfleet from Rushbottom Lane. This is the one that burst last year causing junction to be shut for a week. There will be no disruption to service as Essex and Suffolk Water laid a new main supply under the Arthur Stevens Memorial Playing field in the Autumn.

This is a very good start and I will continue to lobby them on your behalf to invest in their network to better prevent burst mains from clogging up our local roads.