SCORES of lorry drivers could have been stopped and fined illegally because of a road sign blunder.

Thurrock councillor Carl Morris is calling for speedy action to remove weight restriction signs from a busy Grays road which have no legal backing.

Mr Morris says the incorrect signs in Devonshire Road have resulted in more heavy vehicles clogging up neighbouring roads and causing a danger to pedestrians.

He is also asking the police what recompense HGV drivers who have been wrongly fined for not complying with the "restrictions" will be entitled to.

As part of a crusade to ease traffic congestion and improve road safety in Grays, Mr Morris has discovered the road sign gaffe, though he still wants council officers to enforce legal restrictions on nearby roads.

The signs should not have been erected as there is no such restriction, he says.

Mr Morris has written to the police to ask whether drivers incorrectly stopped and fined will be able be able to get redress and is calling on Thurrock Council to remove the misleading signs immediately.

"Thurrock council's highways officer Les Burns has confirmed to me there is no legal weight limit in Devonshire Road," said Mr Morris. "I understand in the past HGVs legally using Devonshire Road have either been stopped and warned not to use it or ticketed and fined.

"If this is the case, in view of the lack of a legal restriction on Devonshire Road, what redress do these people have?"

He says the signs are forcing HGVs on to London Road in Grays and into West Thurrock which are very densely populated areas with two primary schools.