A RESURFACED major road in Hagley has started breaking up less than a year after work was carried out, with the council calling the surface dressing “below standard”.

During 2015, Worcestershire County Council rolled out a programme of resurfacing across the county, including Hagley, at a cost of £4 million to local taxpayers.

At the time, the authority said the work would ensure road surfaces would last longer and be cost effective.

But villager Peter Rowbottom has expressed his dismay that the recently resurfaced Kidderminster Road South section of the A456 through Hagley has already started to break up.

Mr Rowbottom said: “When surface dressing was applied to the A456 in Hagley and elsewhere in Worcestershire last year, the county council said it was a preventative maintenance measure to prolong the life of the road surface.

“It therefore beggars belief that less than 12 months later lengthy sections of one of the busiest roads in the county is effectively breaking up, thereby adversely affecting the thousands of vehicles that use it on a daily basis.

“I presume the county council will be ensuring the contractors responsible for laying the surface dressing will be repairing the road imminently at no cost to the taxpayer.”

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said the authority is “aware of issues” over the road surface which was laid last year, calling it “below standard”.

He added: “We are monitoring the situation and the work will be rectified by the contractor at no expense to the taxpayer.”