A POTHOLE at a busy road junction in Wivenhoe caused tyres to burst and damaged wheel rims.

Three motorists have reported serious damage to their cars after the hole appeared in the road on the B1028.

The hole, measuring about half a metre wide and 12cms deep, was quickly repaired by Essex County Council.

Emma Willis’s Ford Ka was badly damaged.

Miss Willis, 21, from Colchester, said: “All of a sudden my whole car dipped into the ground from the left.

“My passenger screamed. I pulled over as soon as I could and called my dad and rang the AA.

“We took the tyre off and thought it was just a flat tyre, but it turns out the whole rim of the alloy had a huge dent in it.”

Miss Willis said she later saw three or four other motorists at the scene who had pulled over and were taking photos of the hole and examining their cars.

She has had a spare tyre fitted to her car but said she would be writing to Essex County Council to complain.

She said: “It is not acceptable. It was not because of my driving.”

Cyril Liddy’s Ford Ka was also damaged.

Mr Liddy, of Belle Vue Road, Wivenhoe, said: “I had just returned home around 9pm and actually I had felt that pothole too.

“A little while later my wife called me as she had driven over it and it buckled the wheel.

“We went out there and some good soul with tools helped us out and changed the wheel for us and we were able to drive home.

“It burst the tyre and damaged the whole rim.”

Mr Liddy said the pothole was repaired the following morning.

He said: “Sadly there are far too many potholes on our roads, but some are more important than others, particularly at a junction like that one when you are not looking at the traffic lights. It raises the possibility of a nasty accident.”

Mr Liddy said potholes were a problem around Wivenhoe with some not being repaired several months after being reported.

Tracey Chapman, councillor responsible for highways, said: “We carry out safety inspections on B roads every three months.

“We encourage people to report potholes when they see them as these can sometimes develop between inspections.

“When we get a report of a pothole we carry out an assessment to prioritise its repair.

“We do have a process where people can apply for compensation, but each case is assessed individually.”