A RESIDENT has hit out at a council ‘jobsworth’ for painting a white line around a dead fox on the road.

Stephen Napier was driving along the B3157 towards Weymouth when he spotted the fox lying in the middle of a five metre gap in the newly painted white lines.

Mr Napier, 60, said: “The jobsworth had stopped painting just before the fox and continued painting after.

“It defies belief that someone could not use some logic or common sense.”

The white line was painted on the coast road close to the Nottington junction by contractors working for Dorset County Council.

A worker will now be sent back to the road to ‘touch up’ the line.

Mr Napier, of West Bay, stopped to photograph the gap because he was ‘astonished’ to see it.

He said there had been no attempts made to move the road kill.

Mr Napier reported the dead fox to West Dorset District Council who told him they would remove the animal.

He said: “It must have been there for a few days because the smell was awful, maybe that’s why the people painting the road didn’t want to touch it.

“I’m amazed really, they are going to have to go back and paint and fill in the gap at great expense.

“I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse like it isn’t part of their job description to move dead animals but it doesn’t take much to move it out of the way or contact someone else in the council to remove it.”

A spokesman from Dorset County Council said the white lines were painted by an external contractor.

She added: “We will definitely go and touch up the lines now that we are aware of this.”

She said that because the council used an external contractor she couldn’t comment on the reasons for leaving the fox and painting around it.

Line mismanagement

THERE have been similar instances in recent years, with some cases showing lines painted over road kill rather than removing animals.

A white line was painted over the dead body of a badger on the A361 in Somerset and in Hampshire a gap was left either side of another badger on the A338.

A spokesman for Hampshire County Council said the authority was responsible for the line painting but New Forest District Council was responsible for clearing road kill. The two authorities failed to arrange the clearance before line painting began.