Villagers have been left in limbo after Essex County Council decided to remove a controversial bus stop.

The stop had been moved from outside the former Swan Inn in Sible Hedingham last year to a position about 20 metres down the road during temporary culvert works.

Parish councillors had insisted the stop was in the wrong place and discussed moving it themselves at a meeting on Monday.

County Hall officers claimed they could not move it back because planning permission had been granted to turn the former pub into houses and it could affect access to the driveway.

A letter from ECC council officer Moira Mason to the Parish Council said planning officers were also concerned about installing a bus stop on a footpath. 

Councillor Steven Partridge said: “Essex County Council seems to have forgotten the bus stop was only moved to do the work.

“We spoke to the bus company to make sure their drivers stop there but it is a case of getting the bus stop to reassure people that is where the stop actually is.

“Now it has just gone. They have not moved it, they have just taken it away.”

An ECC spokesman confirmed the stop had been taken away.