A GORLESTON man facing three weeks of roadworks disruption has blasted contractors for dragging work out by clocking off early.

The work to relay one footpath along Trafalgar Road West has seen the entire street cordoned off.

Highways bosses at the county council say this is because it is a rat-run from Beccles Road to Church Road, and leaving it open would put workers at risk.

Resident Keith Hawkes, 65, says he understands this but cannot fathom how it is taking three weeks to re-lay a path.

Retired Mr Hawkes said: “The workers arrived at 8am on Monday, got out of their van and were gone by 3pm. It’s silly - approximately 800m of path will be done and the road will be closed for three weeks.”

He said residents were told to move their cars, but added: “Everyone managed to slip their cars in past the bit where it’s barricaded once the workers had gone.”

While the footpath on one side of the road is being resurfaced, Mr Hawkes added the path on the other side is not in top condition either.

“The worst will be if they’re back within a year to do the other side and cause more disruption,” he said.

He added it is a family street and many people have had their working days and school runs disrupted.

But highways bosses have defended the work. A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said: “The time allocated is reasonable for the scale of work. Doing both sides would have extended the period of disruption further.”

Many paths in the neighbourhood have been re-layed in recent years, but Mr Hawkes’ road was left out until work began last Monday.

“Most of the pavements in this area have been reconstructed with asphalt surfaces and new kerbs in recent years, but funding for Trafalgar Road West was not available until this year,” added the spokesman. “This pavement was in worse condition than the one on the other side, which remains serviceable if not attractive.

“We do not have the funding to do both sides at once. We are sorry about the disruption caused.”