A MOTORIST from the Cotswolds has urged fellow victims of potholes on rural roads to inform the Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) to ensure improvements are made.

Tom Lloyd was left with a burst tyre, a damaged wheel and a hefty repair bill after driving over potholes on a stretch of road running from Foss Way to Smerrill Farm, just off the A429 and A433, near Cirencester, on the evening of January 13.

It was the second time in a week that potholes had left a motorist stranded in the dark on a stretch of road in the area, as just five days prior Gloucester hairdresser Melanie Currie was left waiting over an hour for a tow when potholes burst two of her car’s tyres on Trewsbury Road.

Tom said he filed the report online through the Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) website, as well as on fixmystreet.com.

Then, through the tracking facility on the GCC website he said he was informed that the road had been repaired on January 19.

“The potholes were 120cm deep,” said Tom, 50, of Somerford Keynes, who was traveling with his 17-year-old daughter at about 6pm on the day of the incident.

“It dented my wheel and I had to get a new one – total cost of the wheel and tyre was £250. In my view these must have been there for some time. You can see there are a series of them and they are very deep.”

He added: “I was lucky in that I was able to change my own wheel but it would be very unpleasant for her (Melanie) having to wait all that time.

“I wish she had reported it though – people must do this; it is the first time I had done it and it is very easy to do.”

In a statement sent to the Standard in relation to Melanie’s story, Richard Gray, GCC’s local highways manager, had said: “Trewsbury Road was last inspected on December 11, and no defects were recorded.”

Tom questioned this due to the size of the potholes Melanie encountered, as well as those which felled his car, on a stretch of road which leads onto Trewsbury Road. “It’s unlikely they could get so deep in a month,” he said.

However, he did appreciate that “rural roads” are difficult to monitor and those in charge of repairs “can’t drive along every single inch of road.”

Mr Gray, responding to Tom’s claims, said: “Trewsbury Road runs from the junction with Tetbury Road A433 towards Coates and was inspected on December 11. The photos provided (Tom’s photos) show a different stretch of road running from Foss Way to Smerrill Farm, which was last inspected on January 29 and repairs to the edge of the road there will be completed by March 1.”

Visit gloucestershire.gov.uk/reportit to report a pothole.