A CONCERNED resident has blasted the council after two cars collided outside his home, just a month after he warned highways officers the road was dangerously icy.

Owen Rowland, of Abridge Road, Theydon Bois, said the drain outside his home had been overflowing for months before he called county council officers in December with his concerns that the colder weather was making the flood water freeze over.

He said: “Since October the water has been flowing out and flooding the road, and when I say flooding, I mean flooding.

“I phoned up the highways department and brought it to their attention. They said it was on their gully cleansing programme. Finally, a few days before Christmas, they brought a lorry down and tried to clean it, but it didn’t work. Still nothing’s been done.

“Last Friday I complained again and they said they were talking with BT who owned the drain. Now there’s been an accident. They didn’t fix the drain and the water came out and turned to ice. Two cars skidded on the ice at the bend in the road and collided. They ended up on the side of the verge.

“There have been accidents in previous years. It’s extremely dangerous out there. I could ice skate on that road.”

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “We are aware of the concerns of some of the residents about water on Abridge Road. There are some issues in this area around possible ground water and issues with other properties which we are looking into. We are working to resolve these matters as quickly as possible.”

The crash came ahead of a weekend of misery for drivers in the district who found themselves skidding on icy roads.

Seven crashes were reported during a manic three-hour period on Saturday morning.

A man, thought to be in his 30s, was treated for minor injuries at the roadside by paramedics following a three-car smash shortly before 6am on the Crooked Mile accident blackspot in Waltham Abbey.

Fire crews were called to free two motorists from a vehicle involved in a four-car pile-up in Middle Street, Nazeing, at about 8am, before the injured pair were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Less than an hour later, two drivers were lucky to escape without serious injury as their cars collided in Stewards Green Road, Epping, and police were also forced to close a section of the A414 between North Weald and Ongar, after a car was left on its roof in a grass verge. Emergency services were also called to smashes in Ongar at Ongar Road, Fyfield Road, and the B184 in Abbess Roding.