REGULAR Tendring Talk readers may be as confused as we are.

In December we published a column criticizing Essex County Council for the time it took them to clear a van with a gas cylinder in from the A12.

This brought a stiff response from the council who lambasted: "the correspondent does not seem to have done any basic research...the A12 is not the responsibility of Essex County Council. The Highways Agency owns, operates and manages the the road and Essex County Council has no responsibility whatsoever for it."

We were subsequently amazed to read in various publications recently a plethora of stories along the lines of "Essex County Council Highways bosses are to plough millions of pounds into unclogging Essex's roads.

"A retired Government civil servant will be paid to hold a public inquiry into the causes of jams, accidents and closures on the A12, the county council has announced."

Que? Comment? Was? ãÇÐÇ?

The obvious question is, if the council has nothing to do with the A12 why are we paying for a survey and not the Highways Agency which is responsible for it?

Obviously the county council will say it has a strategic role to play in its development but they could turn it into an eight lane superhighway and it won't make a blind bit of difference if it is closed for 24 hours every time there is a fire in a van which involves an acetylene cylinder.

Yes, Tendring Talk is still bitter over its five hour detour into the wilds of Suffolk.