ROAD resurfacing in Narberth last week caused a dust storm which made people ill and coated properties, according to one local resident.

Paul Blaylock, who lives on Sea View Road, said he woke up last Tuesday, May 14, to what he thought was mist outside the window.

"I couldn't see clearly outside the window for about 12 hours and I couldn't go outside for more than four hours," he said.

It turned out the "mist" was in fact dust caused by the council resurfacing the road. Work that, according to locals, began at 4am that morning.

The dust continued to cause problems in the following days; making some people ill, coating gardens and getting into furniture and electronics if people accidentally left their windows, open according to Mr Blaylock.

"Something has to be done about it," he said. "Everyone is outraged at the amount of dust. They didn't wash down the road for another seven hours.

"People have had to go to the doctors with dust down the throat. A large number of people have had to go to Carmarthen surgery. It's a health and safety problem. It's outraging the whole of Narberth.

"In my garden everything is white. There was a couple walking up from the caravan site down the road. They came back ten minutes later coughing. It looked as if someone had poured a bottle of talc over them."

A council spokesman said that the dust following the road dressing in the Narberth area was excessive because of the nature of the stone being laid.

"It is a harder stone than used elsewhere due to the class of road on which it is being used," said the spokesman.

"We use this stone as it increases the durability and life of the dressing, meaning we can extend frequency of re-treatment to a period of around 15 years.

"The hard stone can result in abrasion between adjoining layers as vehicles pass over, creating more dust than would be seen on other roads until the section has received its final few sweeps."

He said that Pembrokeshire County Council's sweepers had been deployed to the area daily since the problem was reported and that the council has been in dialogue with many residents about the ongoing issue.

"The dust seems to have cleared now following an inspection today (Monday)," he said. "However, it will receive another sweep first thing in the morning."