Workers mending potholes and removing illegal flags from lamp posts in Crowborough and across East Sussex are to be issued with body-worn cameras after a spike in abuse from the public.
Balfour Beatty, the highways contractor for East Sussex County Council (ESCC) said increasing levels of road rage over potholes and the state of the roads was behind the move.
On other occasions, road workers have had their picture taken to be shamed online, or have received abuse while taking flags down from lamp posts.
The company, which also manages contracts for a number of other councils, said its road workers across the country have complained of about 600 incidents each week, which can range from verbal abuse to being threatened with a baseball bat.
Staff have been assaulted, confronted with a knife, and on one occasion, had a firecracker thrown at them from a moving vehicle.
As well as the body cameras, the company has also now developed an app to map and establish the abuse hotspots, and increased CCTV use in those areas.
Staff have also been offered conflict resolution training, which includes a five-hour course to understand how to reduce risks with aggressive members of the public. This includes telling staff to “avoid matching the energy” of the abusive individual and that “tactical withdrawal is not failure, it’s smart”.
Ben Francis, an operations manager based in East Sussex, said: “In recent years it has got worse. There has been a huge spike in these incidents here and across the country.
“We had a driver decide to go through a road closure the other day and they mounted the footpath and drove at teams who were actually working. After they were stopped and asked to leave they started racially abusing one of our operatives. That’s with the police now.”
Despite reporting incidents to the police, the company said they had only secured one prosecution.
In recent years, motorists have become increasingly frustrated with the state of disrepair across UK roads, with recent data showing that local authorities face a £18.62 billion backlog of carriageway repairs. Locally, in 2024 ESCC said it would need £300 million to bring all our 2,000 miles of roads up to perfect condition.
Regarding flags, a spokesperson for ESCC recently told Crowborough News: “We know the pride many take in seeing our national flags over East Sussex. However, the government guidance is clear that flags can only be flown where permission has been given by the site’s owner. The unauthorised flying of flags from lampposts and street signs is illegal and can interfere with people safely using the roads or other transport.
“We are working with Sussex Police to remove unauthorised flags as quickly and safely as possible, prioritising those that present road safety risks, and are balancing this work with scheduled or urgent highway work.”