Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents in a village, where a sunken manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November.

Families living on The Street, in the village of Horham, in Suffolk, having been making the most of five traffic cones, which were placed in the road to stop vehicles driving over a manhole cover.

Eastern Daily Press: Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November.Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November. (Image: Joyce Cooper)

Using branches from trees, colourful ribbon and laminated cards, the cones have become a regular sight, which has spread cheer among residents but also highlights how long they have waited for the work to be carried out.

Although families in the village will be sad to see the cones go, many have been left wondering when the manhole – which belongs to Openreach - will be repaired.

Joyce Cooper, a resident who lives on The Street, said: “The saga of the traffic cones continues.

“Nearly 4 months after a problem was reported - which was falling in and considered dangerous - it has still not been repaired.

“Traffic cones were placed by Suffolk County Council at the end of November to protect it from traffic, cyclists and pedestrians.

“But as the inconvenience continues, residents have been decorating the cones with time line cards to depict just how long it has taken.

“The first card placed was Advent Sunday 2020 and they all relate to international diary dates such as Christmas 2020, Hogmanay, president's day, pancake day, flapjack day, book day and international women's day. One punk heart even asks Valentine to mend the manhole

“Villagers are left wondering if the Easter Bunny will be turning up next.”

Another resident, Elizabeth Hall, 75, added: “Nothing so far has yet been done to repair the manhole, in fact I'm beginning to think when they do we will be sad to see our decorations go.

"They have become part of the village.

“But as lovely as they are, and we will miss them, it is time that the man hole was dealt with.”

Eastern Daily Press: Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November.Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November. (Image: Joyce Cooper)

A spokesman for Openreach apologised for the delay and said engineers are looking into why it is taking so long for work and will arrange for work to take place.

They said: "We’ll let people know when we’ll be fixing it and will make sure we collect the artwork and return to the village, as we appreciate people living there may wish to keep hold of it.”

Eastern Daily Press: Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November.Decorated traffic cones have become a “source of amusement” for residents Horham, where a sunken in manhole cover has been in need of repairs since November. (Image: Joyce Cooper)