ROSS-on-Wye’s Broad Street has turned a shade of red following its resurfacing last week.

The work to improve the quality of the road surface began during the evening of Monday, September 23 and lasted until the weekend.

Herefordshire Councillor Barry Durkin, cabinet member for roads and regulatory Services said: “The work on Broad Street has now been completed following works carried out by Welsh Water to repair a collapsed sewer.

“We took the opportunity to enhance road safety and the look of the area through the use of red chip within the tarmac.

“The red chip has good skid resistance and has been used in other areas of the county, including previous works on Gloucester Road in Ross.

“However, ever mindful of ensuring value for money in highways work, the completion of the resurfacing in Brookend Street has been paused while there continues to be ongoing issues with the sewer system and flooding in that area. The road will be resurfaced as soon as this has been resolved.”

Cllr Ed O’Driscoll said that he has noticed that comments had been made about the red chip that has been included in the final surface.

“The chip has a high polished stone value which is a method used to evaluate skid resistance. This means it is less likely to cause accidents in slippery conditions. Aesthetically I feel it’s worth noting we already have the same stone included on Gloucester Road.”

Following the flooding of Broad Street in May the road ended up with several craters in the road surface, similar to that of small sinkholes, while the blocks forming part of the pavements were ripped up and floated down the hill.

At the height of the thunderstorm, with water gushing down the road, bricks and other lose material were also seen floating down Broad Street during the torrent. It left the debris looking like a beach at the bottom of the hill in Brookend Street.

It is understood that a broken sewer had gone undetected, and it finally collapsed during the heavy deluge of rain that descended on the town on May 12.