‘YOU couldn’t make it up.’

That’s the view of critics who have blasted authorities for confusion over a repair scheme in Weymouth which saw the same stretch of road dug up twice in the space of a few days.

It has led to a row between Dorset County Council and Wessex Water.

It follows a water leak at the top end of Abbotsbury Road near Londis which sprang up at the same time the council was due to resurface the carriageway.

The council went ahead with resurfacing, using stop-go boards to control traffic.

A few days later Wessex Water dug up the newly-surfaced road to make the repair, again disrupting traffic.

Eddie Hawkins, who lives in Abbotsbury Road, said: “You couldn’t make it up.

“It wouldn’t happen in a Carry On comedy.”

Dorset County Council insisted it informed Wessex Water there was a leak before it started work but said the firm failed to act.

They county council is in the middle of a resurfacing programme around the borough, protecting roads against potholes.

Wessex Water disputed the council’s version of events, saying by the time engineers got to the site, the new road surface had been laid.

It took a few days for the water company to excavate the road again as it has to apply for permission to work on the highway.

Taxi driver Mr Hawkins said: “The water leak was there for a while before the council came along to surface the road.

“I find it astounding the council went ahead and laid a surface over it and then the water company came along and dug it all up again.

"Surely all that had to be done was for the council to turn round and ask for the leak to be fixed then they could do their bit.

“It’s absolutely crazy.”

Abbotsbury Road resident Ellen Shaw said: “The leak was left far too long before it was repaired. It would’ve been easier if it had been repaired at the same time.”

Westham councillor Ian James said: “There’s obviously been a breakdown in communication somewhere but really, how daft. You can’t write the script.”

He added: “Things worked fine when the borough council had control of its own highways.

“Now it’s at county level it seems that no-one talks to anyone.”

Head of Dorset Highways Andrew Martin said: “Dorset County Council’s highways team informed Wessex Water that there was a leak on Abbotsbury Road before resurfacing work started.

“We also offered them the chance to do the repair while we were working on the road, but they were unable to do this.”

Responding to this, a Wessex Water spokesman said: “We were on site to inspect the leak the day after it was reported to us. However, the council had already resurfaced the area where we needed to excavate so it simply wasn’t possible to fix the leak before the new road surface was laid.”

He added: “We would have welcomed the opportunity to repair the leak before the road was resurfaced. It would have meant we could get the leak fixed quickly, minimised inconvenience on local people and would have been more cost effective for all involved.”