A MAN has slammed Essex County Council after stepping into a vicious hole in the pavement and breaking his ankle.

Gary Fox, 27, was walking to work along London Road at 4.40am when he stumbled into the hole and suffered the injury.

He blames the fall on the streetlight blackout, which has left his route to work in pitch black darkness between midnight and 5am.

Gary, of Park Road, Clacton said: “With the streetlights off it is just impossible to see anything. I never saw the hole and my foot just dropped into it. I was in agony.”

It happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning as Gary walked towards the McDonalds branch in Weeley where he works.

“Turning the street lights off has made this road dangerous and I’m sure it’s the same all over the town. The whole thing is short sighted."

The county council apologised for the incident and has made emergency repairs to the pavement on London Road to make it safer.

A spokesman said they were listen carefully to feedback from residents about the part-night lighting scheme.