Derbyshire businessman’s anger over pothole which is ‘getting bigger by the day’

Stephen Thompson owner of Moss Valley Meats, said he reported the hole to the council in January – and since then it has ‘claimed 10 car tyres’.

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According to Mr Thompson, it is one of a number of defects on Hazlehurst Lane in the Moss Valley, near Coal Aston

The council said it will fill the potholes ‘in the next couple of weeks’.

Mr Thompson said: “The pothole which has claimed 10 car tyres since January is 8in deep and now a third of the width of the lane.

“It’s getting bigger and by the day.

“It’s covered in water.

“The council came the other week to try and fix it using water-based tarmac – which you can't use in wet potholes.

“Will it ever get properly repaired?

“It’s not good enough.

“What am I paying my council tax for?”

A council spokesperson said: “Our inspector visited this site on May 21, following Mr Thompson raising the issue with us, and has asked our team to fill these potholes within the next couple of weeks.”

Responding to the council’s comment, Mr Thompson said: “But we raised the issue on January 9!”

Last week, the council started work on a £10million programme to resurface and surface dress roads across the county.

Over the next year, parts of more than 325 roads will be resurfaced or surface dressed.

Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, designate cabinet member for highways assets and transport, said: “The £10m we will spend on resurfacing and surface dressing is part of the £40m we announced we’d spend on our roads last year.

“Improving the roads is a major priority for the council, and this programme of improvements is just a start.

“Over the coming year we will also be carrying out work on pavements, drains, bridges and retaining walls.

“There will be some delays to road users and inconvenience to those who live locally, for which we apologise in advance.

“But we simply can’t spend this amount of money without causing delays and some inconvenience.

“All of the road resurfacing work will be done in the evenings so we don’t affect the majority of road users.”

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