RED-FACED county council officials apologised this week after a blunder meant that freshly painted road markings were resurfaced and covered over.Streets around Cobholm which recently saw new double yellow lines and old lines given a lick of paint will have to have the work done again after the resurfacing on Monday was completed.

RED-FACED county council officials apologised this week after a blunder meant that freshly painted road markings were resurfaced and covered over.

Streets around Cobholm which recently saw new double yellow lines and old lines given a lick of paint will have to have the work done again after the resurfacing on Monday was completed.

William Moores, 74, noticed the work going ahead outside his house on Granville Road. He said: “It seems like a waste of money to me. If the markings were old it would be all right, but these have been newly marked and now they're going over it again.”

The resurfacing is part of yearly measures taken by road engineers working alongside Norfolk County Council to prevent pot holes and improve road quality. The works, which also affected streets including Marsh Road and Lucas Road, are going ahead in Great Yarmouth ahead of the tourist season, and involve bitumen and chippings being laid.

Spokesman for the Norfolk County Council John Birchill said: “We have to hold our hands up to this one.

“We thought we had picked up all the sites which were due for line painting but were subsequently listed for surface dressing.

“There are hundreds of sites on both the line painting and surface dressing lists, but it should still have been picked up.

“We work hard to co-ordinate all kinds of roadworks to avoid this sort of thing happening, and to keep roads as clear as possible for drivers. The extra cost will be minimal, but we take pride in providing value for money, so of course we are embarrassed and apologise for the error.”

He added the line painting will be done weather permitting, once the surfacing has had time to bed in and has been swept of chippings.