Thurrock Council apologises for year's wait to fix crossing

Henry Matthews, who is registered blind, said he relied on the crossing on Lodge Lane

A council has apologised to a blind man for taking a year to fix a pedestrian crossing near his home.

Henry Matthews uses the crossing on Lodge Lane in Grays, Essex, to access amenities such as a chemist, shop, post office and GP surgery.

He said the issue was a major problem for him and that he had reported it numerous times before it was fixed.

A spokesman for Thurrock Council said it had "fallen short of expected standards" and apologised.

Mr Matthews said he was told twice by a local councillor that the crossing had been fixed when it had not.

"I try to be independent as much as I can," he said.

"I have no help, I'm by myself. I rely on the crossing."

'Laurel and Hardy'

Mr Matthews said on 29 October he had to show an engineer where the broken crossing was.

"It was almost a Laurel and Hardy situation," he said.

"You had a blind man who's partially hearing, wearing black glasses, a white stick and a high-vis jacket, showing an engineer where the signals were.

"It was the most ridiculous thing ever."

Ben Maney, cabinet member for highways, said: "I am pleased that this repair has finally been carried out, after receiving the first report of an issue at this crossing in November 2020, and that lessons have been learned.

"I can only apologise to residents for the way this particular issue was handled. I am personally writing to this resident to offer my sincere apologies, explain what happened and offer assurances that we have now reviewed the processes in place which means this will not happen again."