A series of phallic images graffitied over potholes in Lowestoft have been labelled "offensive and useless" by a council that says the protests will not speed up repairs. 

Sometime over the weekend, Victoria Road and Beccles Road were targeted by vandals who used spray paint to draw graphic symbols around several potholes along both streets.

This has been used in the past to bring attention to the issue with the hope the council will remove the graffiti and fix the potholes at the same time. 

Eastern Daily Press: Beccles Road was targeted by the vandals Beccles Road was targeted by the vandals (Image: Supplied)

But Suffolk Highways has said it may have the opposite effect. 

"We strongly condemn this kind of action," a spokeswoman said.

"Vandalism like this does nothing to speed up the repair of any individual highway defect.

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"The only outcome of this kind of stunt is to add additional costs onto councils, and therefore the taxpayer, as the offensive images will now need to be cleaned off the road surface.

"It will likely also cause local disruption to residents as the road will be closed or restricted while this cleaning takes place."

Eastern Daily Press: Victoria Road was also targeted with spraypainted phallusesVictoria Road was also targeted with spraypainted phalluses (Image: Emma Scott)

According to the authority, Victoria Road and Beccles Road do not currently meet their criteria for repair despite recent inspections and much public outcry. 

Many locals are fed up with the condition of the roads which they claim have been in a similar state for the last several years. 

Gary Evans, who lives locally, said: "The entire area is peppered with deep potholes as if a cluster bomb had exploded overhead.

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"The potholes don't meet the criteria but there are so many that you can't avoid them, not without risking a head-on collision. 

"So your car gets a thorough bashing time after time and now I drive to work via a different and longer route."

Highways teams are expected to remove the graffiti in the next week.