Spotty road leaves residents in Colchester baffled

The spots are designed to encourage walking and cycling to school, the council said

Giant coloured spots painted on a road have left residents perplexed.

The markings appeared on Norman Way in Colchester and residents said they were told the "temporary street art" was to encourage children to walk or cycle to the nearby school.

Some asked if it was "decoration or desecration" and feared it would instead encourage children to play in the street.

Essex County Council said it was to make streets more "attractive".

The large red, green, blue and orange spots were "installed as part of the creation of a new Healthy School Street in this part of Colchester", a council spokesperson said.

"It is part of a package of measures to make the street more visible - to highlight to drivers that there is a school within the vicinity."

The spots on Norman Way are temporary, the council said

In a local Facebook post, accompanied by photographs of the spotty road, one resident asked: "How the heck will that make children want to walk or cycle? What goes on inside these people's heads?"

Another described it as "baffling", while there were concerns that children would end up wanting to play in the circles in the middle of the road.

"All it'll do is get kids jumping from one circle to another," said one resident.

The council spokesperson added: "Healthy School Streets are designed to improve streets around schools, especially for children, aiming to make them more accessible and attractive for walking, wheeling and cycling.

"The creation of School Streets supports our aims to encourage active travel and make Essex safer, greener and healthier."

The authority has not said how much the spotty initiative cost to install, but the spokesperson said: "Funding for the implementation of this School Street was secured through the government's Active Travel Fund 2, which helps local councils invest specifically in projects which encourage walking, wheeling or cycling.

"Funding is ringfenced and cannot be used for other highways-related improvements."