Cars travelling along bypass damaged by potholes

Several cars were damaged after drivers inadvertently went through a series of potholes on a major road.

Motorist Robert Deady, 46, said he "was not expecting to hit a succession of potholes" on the A421 Tingewick bypass in Buckinghamshire on Friday morning.

He said it was going to cost him £600 to repair his front tyre, which "popped", and the alloy on his rear tyre, which was badly buckled. One local garage said it had had to repair about 25-30 wheels.

Buckinghamshire Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for transport, Thomas Broom, blamed the rain and freezing temperatures, which "added to the stress on road surfaces".

"The defect at Tingewick was treated as urgent due to the additional deterioration overnight Thursday when it flooded, and we closed the road on Friday to carry out an emergency repair to make the road safe," he said.

He added that further repairs were carried out on Monday, and a number of gullies and drainage channels were cleaned.

Deady, from Leighton Buzzard, said he had lost a week's wages as an HGV driver as he could not get to work.

He said there were "15 to 20 pot holes on the half-mile stretch" of the bypass, and he was looking to "contact the council to see if I can put a claim in [for the tyre repairs]."

Jake, who owns The Motor Spa garage in Buckingham, said customers had dropped off 25-30 wheels, which needed repairing since Thursday.

He said it was "rare to have this many tyres in at any one time just over a period of a couple of days".

The wheels from different cars were all "damaged, buckled or cracked" and "everyone has said they all have come from the bypass".

From what customers told him, he said "it sounded like it was unavoidable [to hit the potholes] as you had to swerve a lane or up the verge to avoid them".

Broom said: "Unfortunately, the recent very wet and freezing conditions have significantly impacted the condition of the roads across Buckinghamshire with new defects and potholes opening up since Christmas."

He added that they had "put forward a record £220m investment in the roads and associated infrastructure in our budget plans that are due to be determined next month".

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