A DRIVER is stunned after a near-miss with a metal rod poking out of the road surface.

Ian Groves, 59, was driving along Factory Lane, in Halstead, when he stopped after swerving to try to avoid a pothole which damaged his tyre.

After getting out of his car, Mr Groves was shown a metal rod poking out of the surface of the road near to the pothole he had hit.

He said: “It’s ever so dangerous. I swerved and went down a massive pothole and stopped.”

Charlie Cutter, who runs Charlie’s Bodyshop on Factory Road, had pointed out the obstruction to Mr Groves.

He said: “It’s been there since I opened the Bodyshop which was a year ago now.

“It’s on the edge of the road where people’s wheels would run over it and it looks like it could potentially cause some damage if it’s left much longer.”

A spokesman for Essex Highways, said: “Thank you for drawing this issue to our attention.

“Our inspector will check on site to see if remedial work is required.

“The piece of metal looks almost exactly flush with the road surface and so thick that it is highly unlikely to move.

“We would encourage everyone to report faults online at essex.gov.uk/highways as they then go straight into our database for attention.”