COUNCIL bosses have apologised to residents wishing to comment on planning applications after its online planning website crashed.

Tendring Council said its IT experts are continuing to work to get the authority’s Public Access system back online.

The Idox system provides access to the council’s planning services, including viewing planning applications online and commenting on them.

The system has been down for a number of days, but experts from Idox alongside Tendring Council’s own IT engineers have been working to restore the system.

Carlo Guglielmi, portfolio holder for finance and corporate services, said a third party IT consultant had also been brought in to help.

“Despite the combined best efforts of Idox's top support consultants, a number of key officers with our IT team and support from a third party specialist we still haven’t been successful yet in fixing public access,” he said.

“I am confident we have our best people on the job working to rectify the fault, which is their highest priority.

“In the meantime, I apologise to anyone affected.”

Until the system has been restored, residents can submit their comments by email to planning.services@tendringdc.gov.uk while applications and drawings can be inspected by appointment at the Council Offices in Weeley.