A WIDOWER told how his wife’s funeral procession was unable to leave from their home after builders tore up the road.

Trevor Bedworth was devastated when funeral directors told him the hearse was unable to reach their house in Hillview Road, Rayleigh - where they had lived for 15 years - due to the poor condition of the road surface.

Three new properties are currently being built. Mr Bedworth claims lorries delivering equipment to the site have caused potholes.

His beloved wife died suddenly from a stroke. Her funeral took place on Friday, February 10.

Mr Bedworth said: “We have had work going on down our road for the last 18 months.

“It is an unmade road and the lorries are really damaging the surface. They are really big lorries some of them.

“Some of it was the car we chose, as it was an antique. The funeral parlour said the car would not be able to go up the road as there are too many potholes and the surface is so bad.

“Myself and other members of the family were really upset.”

Instead, family and friends were collected from limousines. The hearse had to wait for them along the route before the procession could be completed.

Mr Bedworth added: “We have never had problems along this road before they started building the houses.

“It has always been an unmade road, but the residents would go out and fill in the potholes when we needed to.

“However, the lorries have completely destroyed the top layer.

“The road is now a mess.

“I have to wash my car every couple of days because there is so much mud they have left along it and my car gets covered.”

Mr Bedworth complained to Leigh-based developers, The Flush Group, after the funeral. The firm claims the road was damaged before building work began and residents in the street turned down offers to have the road tarmacked.

He has also been in touch with Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois, about the damage.

Mr Bedworth said: “We haven’t seen much work being done on the houses since Christmas.

“However, whenever I spoke to them they always said the road would be left in the condition they found it, but they haven’t.”

  • THE man in charge of building work in Hillview Road said he was upset to hear of the distress caused to the family.

Project coordinator Dave Camm, who works for The Flush Group, added that he does not believe all the fault for the hearse not being able to get down the road can be laid on the company.

He said: “The road has always been in a bad state.

“It is a private road and is unmade.

“We did offer to do some tarmacking for the residents, but they didn’t want it done.

“They wanted it left as it is so that drivers don’t use it as a cut through between London Hill Road and Crown Hill.

“That would make it a busier road and people might park their cars there to walk into town and some of the residents do not want that.

“From our point of view, we have done as good as we can.”

Building work in Hillview Road has not yet been completed.

Mr Camm added: “We do still have things to do there and will be going back.

“I am very sad to hear about the problems the family has had.

“The road does have a lot of potholes.

“We have put some crush - material used to fill potholes - down and have carried out some repairs as well.

“We will be putting crush down outside the houses we have built once we have finished them.”

He claims that a groups of ten residents living in the street previously raised cash to pay for the road to be tarmacked - but the work failed to go ahead after their efforts were met with opposition by their neighbours.

The Flush Group is a specialist group of companies working together in partnership with the property world.