Unmaintained road signs are causing confusion for motorists and creating a "serious safety issue" warns one community leader.
Road signs across the county have fallen over or are at an angle due to rust and a lack of maintenance, leaving motorists unaware of speed limits, hazards and directions.
Babergh District Councillor Bryn Hurren said: "The number of signs fallen over, buried in hedges and invisible to motorists is a serious safety issue.
"It’s also not a good advert for our county and it sends a poor message to visitors.”
Suffolk County Council, who maintain a variety of signs, said they prioritise sign replacements on a 'risk-based defect response' depending on the type of road and road sign.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk Highways said: "Some mandatory signs that provide safety instructions to highway users and meet the criteria are to be replaced or repaired during maintenance.
"Replacement of road signs that do not meet the criteria are considered for inclusion planned maintenance programmes which are carried from April to March each year."
The budget allocated from the Department for Transport funds for road sign maintenance in 2023/24 was £94,000.
The spokeswoman added: "The cost of replacing road signs can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds depending on the type and size of the sign, the type and size of posts and foundations, the location, proximity to utilities equipment and the temporary traffic management requirements for the removal and replacement works.”
The authority is also currently carrying out a comprehensive inventory of different types and sizes of direction signs across the county so is unable to confirm the exact number affected.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "Visible signs are vital to road safety.
"Any council that fails to maintain theirs is putting the lives of every road user at risk."
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