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Residents in a Tamworth street were left stunned when council workers appeared to have left ‘penis-shapes’ in the road after trying to cover old markings with the wrong paint.

Staffordshire County Council said the preventative treatment used to maintain the road reacted with the painted white lines and causing the ‘mis-shapes’ at the junction of Emberton Way and Padstow.

But locals said they were ‘disgusted’ by the ‘mess’ left by the workers and said many of the shapes looked ‘obscene.’

One angry resident, Graham Wood, who has lived in his detached home for about 11 years, was away when the work started in June but returned to the ‘complete mess’.

He told the Mail Online: “There are some very bizarre, obscene shapes. One of them looks like someone’s giving someone the finger sign.

“They’ve scraped off the old road markings and painted over it, but the stuff they used reacted with the white lines.

“The paint melted the white lines underneath it so, as vehicles drove over the road, it went all over the place. It’s a huge mistake and it has left the road in a right state.

“The road looks a complete mess, but they decided to paint the white line markings over the top when they’ve not even sorted the mess they had originally made.

“We often joke that we have several penises on our road. They do look like penis shapes.”

The father-of-one added: “The work took place four to five weeks ago and we’re already seeing cracks in the pavement, weeds growing out of the road surface and tyre markings across the pavements from where the vehicles have driven across the paint without warning.

“You can already see the red tarmac surface on one road because the paint has been dragged off. It is terrible frankly.’

Another furious resident, Annette Bullick, 50, also told the Mail Online: "I was shocked when I first saw them. We found the shapes amusing but the state the whole estate has been left in is disgusting really."

Father-of-two Steven Rowlands, 43, said: "It is terrible. The road looks ridiculous now, it is in a right mess.

“I can’t see how they can make such a mistake but it’s awful. I know a lot of residents who have complained to the council. They are obscene.

“I understand the council have told them they can’t do much about it. It is really starting to bother a lot of people round here though.”

Bar manager, Darryl Birch, 32, added: ‘I think it is a disgrace really. I am ashamed.

“I can’t imagine what it is doing to house prices around here because the road looks very unpleasant and would probably put buyers off.”

Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet support member for highways and transport at Staffordshire County Council, said: ‘This preventative treatment is used to preserve and extend the life of roads that are already in good condition which means they last longer and do not require as much maintenance in the future.

“When the work was carried out the material caused a reaction with the painted white lines on the road which caused them to miss-shape. The effect was purely cosmetic and the material has now settled.

“Our highways team are now working with the contractor to resolve the aesthetic issues on site.”