Plymouth driver annoyed at potholes sends city council £300 repair bill
A disgruntled driver from Plymouth has billed his council after his car was damaged by potholes.
Al Mitchell has sent a £300 bill to Plymouth City Council to pay for repairs to his damaged car, which mechanics suggested may have been caused by potholes.
He lives in Penrith Gardens in Estover, which has suffered from a number of potholes over the years.
The damage to his car - a Nissan Qashqai - was discovered when he took it in for its MOT and he was landed with a £300 bill.
"I was absolutely steaming," he said. "We sent them (the council) the MOT bill in the last complaint but we haven't had anything back from them yet.
“I highlighted on the bill the repairs I'd been told were likely caused by the potholes.
"It all just falls on deaf ears. All this stuff about safety, but then they don't give a stuff about the roads.
"Over four years we've been on to them about it, and they've partially filled some in once, and then now they're even worse.
“It needs the whole stretch redoing, especially with the amount of traffic that comes down here now. It's just constant."
In a statement, the council recognised Penrith Gardens was damaged - but not badly enough to warrant repairs.
"Our Highways Safety Team regularly inspect the city’s road network and carry out repairs as soon as potholes at intervention level are identified,” he said.
"We have recently inspected Penrith Gardens and although there is surface damage to the road there have been no potholes identified that would require immediate repair.
"We have an agreed safety inspection process for potholes and anything that requires intervention is at least 40mm and at least 300mm wide.
"In the past, the road was resurfaced using a technique called ‘overlaying’, which is placing a new surface directly onto an old surface, without replacing the core.
"However, we are looking at alternative longer-term solutions for this type of deterioration."
Read more:
Car crashes through wall at Keynsham Ambulance Station - driver flees the scene
Tour manager who worked with Blur and Duran Duran killed with partner in Somerset crash