RESIDENTS of a small road in Cam have been left bemused after workers painted a large bright red line along the street.

People living in Spark Hill watched on in bewilderment as workers for Western Power Distribution painted the line last week.

The firm had carried out work beneath the road last year but when county council officers visited to inspect the reinstatement of the road, they requested that the surface be restored to its original dark/burnt red colour rather than black.

However, rather than relaying the surface, a crew of Western Power workers painted the red line.

Mitch Hough, a Spark Hill resident, said that the painting was carried out “out of the blue” after the firm’s initial work in December.

He said that the road was resurfaced a red colour about five years ago, but shortly after it washed away revealing black tarmac which he believes was the road’s original surface.

A spokesman for Western Power, which manages electricity distribution across the South West, Midlands and Wales, said that their work had been carried out following a request from Gloucestershire County Council.

She said: “We carried out some work on Spark Hill last year and reinstated the street with black tarmac. 

“When Gloucestershire County Council inspected the reinstatement they marked it as defective on the grounds the black tarmac should have been red and we were required to replace it.”

After seeing the repainting work carried out by Western Power, Gloucestershire County Council has requested that the firm re-do its work.

Philip Cameron, traffic manager at the council, said: “Western Power Distribution has to return a road surface to its original standard once the work is finished. 

“Spark Hill road was not previously black tarmac so we asked that they relay it to the original colour. 

“Clearly this shade of red is not a colour match so we will work with Western Power to fix it.”