Councillors in central Watford are demanding that Hertfordshire County Council “pull their finger out” and repaint a “badly faded” box junction located on the ring road near the town centre.

The cross-hatched box sits on the junction of Waterfields Way and Beechen Grove – opposite intu Watford – and is designed to stop motorists clogging up the ring road.

However Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst says the box now urgently needs repainting as it has become “almost invisible to drivers”, which he says causes motorists to queue on it and therefore create more congestion on the ring road at peak times.

"The excuse I got from the county council was they had run out of time and money when doing the re-marking of the other junctions on the ring road,” he said.

“Yet this is the busiest one and has a pedestrian crossing near it - it's essential for safety reasons that it is re-marked.

"I was gobsmacked that, until I raised it, they had not even noticed it was a problem.”

Ringway - Hertfordshire County Council's highways contractor - has been contacted for comment.