A RESIDENT has said he is “frightened” to drive down a pothole-ridden road after his son was forced to fork out hundreds of pounds to fix his four tyres.
Dave Smith, from Colchester, has slammed Essex County Council over the state of Weir Lane, which runs between Mersea Road and Fingringhoe Road.
The road is said to have suffered from severe potholes for several months, but nothing has been done to fix it.
In pictures seen by the Gazette, the lane can be seen littered with huge craters which are filled with muddy rainwater.
Mr Smith said: “I have reported it and made our ward councillors aware, but it has not gotten fixed yet.
“It has been like it for months and has gradually deteriorated over time.
“A lot of people pass through it regularly. It is a fairly busy road.
“There is concern people could get seriously injured, and it is an accident waiting to happen.”
Mr Smith is particularly frustrated with the condition of the road due to the impact it has now had on his son.
After driving down Weir Lane recently, his son was left having to pay up hundreds of pounds after his tyres were ruined and needing replacing.
“He was just driving along it and bang, he needed all four wheels replaced," said Mr Smith.
“When he went to Braiswick Tyres he said they told him they had a number of cars suffering from damage on the same road.
“He wasn’t aware of the potholes and was coming from the Mersea Road end so was doing nearly 40mph before hitting them.
“He had to spend several hundred pounds on these repairs.
“Just before Christmas my granddaughter’s dad picked her up to take her to gymnastics and got two punctures, but he hasn’t even got the money to repair it.
"We are now frightened to use the road. It’s just awful.”
Essex Highways bosses have now responded.
A spokesman said: “In order to maximise our resources, we have to fix the most urgent issues first, however, all defects reported to us are assessed by an inspector.
“We therefore encourage members of the public to report any defects or issues they find through our online Tell Us tool at www.essexhighways.org/tell-us.
“Information about our repair criteria and maintenance strategy can also be found at essexhighways.org/how-we-prioritise-highway-issues.”
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