A CAMPAIGN to help repair troublesome potholes in the Cotswolds has been launched.

Motorists are being urged to send pictures of damaged roads to their Liberal Democrat councillor, as part of the party’s ‘Show us your potholes’ campaign.

Leader of the Cotswold Lib Dems, Cllr Joe Harris said: “We all know how bad the roads are in the Cotswolds and unless the Government commits real investment into local roads then the situation isn’t going to get much better any time soon.

“Our ‘Show us your potholes’ campaign is meant to be a bit of fun but it does highlight important realities, terrible road surfaces costs motorists thousands of pounds in repairs to their vehicles and there is also a safety concern as many potholes are big enough to cause an accident at higher speeds.”

“As the area’s county councillors, Nigel Robbins, Paul Hodgkinson and I receive hundreds of complaints a year about the state of the roads, we always try and chase highways to get potholes filled as soon as possible and this small campaign is an effort to continue this.”

The recent freezing weather has seen a steep rise in the number of pothole on county roads.

Among the residents affected is Nick Hester from Cirencester.

“On Sunday I lost my front left tyre and bent the alloy on Siddington Road,” he said.

“I had to get the RAC out and have it recovered because the tyre had ripped. The alloy couldn’t be straightened so I had to take the car to Swindon. I basically couldn’t miss it as there were potholes next to each other.”

It will cost Nick £467 to repair his alloy and tyre. He’s been without a car for most of the week and his wife has had to get taxis to work. The 58 year-old is hoping to claim back his losses from the county council.

“They were brilliant over the phone. I’m claiming money for the tyre, alloy and my wife’s taxi fares so we’ll see how that goes.”

Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways at Gloucestershire County Council said: “This is peak pothole season and our roads have taken a real battering after the recent severe weather.

“As a result, we’re putting more effort into urgent road repairs. If people see a pothole they can help by reporting it at gloucestershire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-rights-of-way/roads/report-it/ – every single one is inspected, and dangerous problems repaired within 24 hours. Less urgent repairs, decided according to national guidelines, are repaired within 28 days.

“We’re working hard to get these fixed and have invested an extra £40m into the roads over the next four years.” so I’m confident that with the extra backing we’re giving them, and your support, we will make rapid progress with our repairs.”