THIS is a seriously obscured sign not on a infrequently-used country lane but one of the major roads in the Winchester area.

This large direction sign stands on the A3090 between Hockley Link and Junction 11 of the M3. The road runs parallel to Hockley Viaduct and is heavily used.

But by the look of it no-one has cut back vegetation in a number of years and the sign is becoming increasingly obscured and useless.

It's no problem if you know the road but there will be a large number of people especially in the tourist season for whom this lack of maintenance causes confusion and thus a traffic hazard.

A Hampshire County Council spokeperson, said: “This site will be cut back as part of our autumn verge maintenance programme. Roadside verges are cut twice a year which includes the removal of vegetation in front of signs. In between, extra cuts may be arranged in specific places to ensure the continued visibility of safety critical road signs. In a year when the weather conditions have resulted in the rapid and widespread growth of roadside vegetation, we must focus our limited resources on the highest-priority locations. Direction signs are not considered critical and would not generally be subject to any additional cuts.”