Mrs L Sherwood

by Elissa

11 Aug 2011

I am now going to sue my local council after hitting a metre long 20 inches wide and 5 inches deep polhole at the end of April just before a blind bend meeting the A329 into Stratford upon Avon from Hampton Lucy. On the junction itself there was another pothole whire the rim of the alloy hit the road after bursting the tyre on the first hole. The initial damage was nearly £700, however a few weeks later a leakfrom the steering column seal which ruptured had ruined the gears for the power assisted steering which failed completely and another cost to me of around £ 900. This slow leak would not have been obvious after the first impact. I ahve lost my excess of £400, my insurance has gone up by over £120 and the council have sent a report stating the D road had not had any issues in November 2010 and only needs to be checked every 48 weeks. How come then that 14 holes on that stretch were marked after my accident in April and filled this week. 8.August. The A329 is required to be checked every 6 weeks so why were the 3 holes there left from April to August? . Does the public know that if you do not inform the Council of the holes as you see them, they are not obliged to do anything about it and they try cover themselves with the Section 58 statement. All councils are different in their criteria for how often they chec the roads so be warned. This whole episode has gost me around £1500 through no fault of my own. Had iI gone on the opposite side of the road on a blind bend I would have had a had on crash with a car coming the other way off the A329. Now the intial hole was filled in within two weeks, the other holes on the junction where the Alloy hit the road and was further damaged was not filled in until 8.8.2011. My accident was 23.4.11 so an A road with traffic travelling at 60mph was left four months without action. Warwick Conuty Council are covering their backs, lets see what they say about court proceedings. It seems to be the only way to make these councils take notice of the highway laws which put the responsibility squarely with them to keep our roads in good repair, instead of leaving the poor council tax payers to take the hit. They take you to court for one months arrears in your council tax after all. Has anyone else had any problems with Warwick Council in this regard? Hatton Bank Lane has been a nightmare for much longer than 48 weeks and even now it is hard to tell whetgehr the repairs are meant to be temporary or permanent - it is lip service at best and negligence at worst.