Hopes the reopening of a busy Suffolk road would bring an end to months of ill-feeling soon faded this week when drivers commented on the “awful” condition of its surface.

Business and residents in east Suffolk had welcomed Wednesday’s reopening of Woods Lane in Melton with “gratitude” and “relief” after the closure brought 12 weeks of “chaos” either side of Christmas.

Bloor Homes, whose Longwood Fields housing development caused the closure, had managed to complete its work a month early after agreeing to extended working hours following intense community pressure.

But almost as soon as the road was returned to use, fresh complaints came in about its condition.

People commenting on the Stop Woods Lane Closure Facebook group, said the road was “awful” - and was likely to need resurfacing.

Another said it was so “bumpy and uneven” that their car had been “rattling”.

A Suffolk County Council spokesman, responding to the complaints, said the resurfacing of Woods Lane was “very much on the agenda”.

However, he added that it could not be carried out immediately, as the recent works needed time to settle, it was too cold, and construction traffic still using the site would cause damage.

“What we’re looking at is the best time to do it in the coming months, whether it could be done at night to minimise disruption and if people would support it,” the spokesman added.

SCC assured residents that the pressure it had applied on Bloor to complete the work promptly “had paid off”.

Some of the council’s critics, however, have claimed it should have insisted Bloor agreed to return the road in a good condition before the work began.

Melton resident Allan Cole said it was now going to have to be carried out “at expense to the public purse”.