A Reigate man fed up with paying for damage caused to his car by potholes has launched an “e-petition” he hopes will take the blight on Surrey's roads to Parliament.

Mark Eshelby, a property developer, has launched the Government online e-petition after a second costly run-in with a pothole recently.

Mr Eshelby said he has had to pay out about £1,400 in repairs in the last 18 months for pothole damage to his Audi A4.

Now he is hoping that if enough people sign his call for more money to be given to councils to fix their roads – 100,000 signatures – then the issue will be taken up in the House of Commons.

Mr Eshelby said: "This may seem a tall order. However, I have perhaps foolishly decided to give it a go. I only hope others care enough to do likewise."

Mr Eshelby said his most recent run-in with a pothole had left him having to buy a new wheel and tyre.

He said Surrey County Council had refused to reimburse him for the damage.

He said: “The council must surely be inundated on a daily basis with reports of potholes both new and old, together with claims for compensation.”

Mr Eshelby said the pothole he encountered recently was the second to damage his car this year, and said Surrey's roads were “littered” with them.

He said: "The pothole was on Reigate Hill and so large that it literally took out the wheel to my car. “I was driving at the speed limit and could not avoid the hole as to do so would have meant I hit either a pedestrian or oncoming traffic.”

He continued: “I do not understand the council's stance, who state that they have now repaired it in the required timeframe, but more to the point, why was it there in the first place, especially on a main arterial road from the M25?

“We should not have to constantly weave around potholes"

He said: “I have become increasingly frustrated and concerned by the state of our roads and our numerous potholes.

“I am pretty sure I am not alone in my annoyance.

“I do really feel that our roads are deteriorating fast and that something needs to be done about it.”

On the question of reimbursement for repairs, a spokeswoman for Surrey County Council said: “The law recognises we cannot possibly know about every single pothole as and when it appears, so it recognises if we are not aware of the pothole, we cannot be held responsible.”

She said once a pothole is reported to them, then it goes on record and they do then bear responsibility, and so have strict time-scales within which to act and carry out repairs to the road.

She added: “With the weather we've had, it's ripped up the roads – the water gets in the roads, it freezes and rips them to pieces.”

She said the county council is taking lots of action to combat potholes, including recently announcing what it has dubbed Project Horizon – a five-year roads maintenance plan through which the council can achieve economies of materials, and under which residents have recently been invited to nominate the roads they feel are most in need of repair, which has led to a road repairs hit-list being drawn up.

Anyone wanting to sign Mr Eshelby's petition can do so online at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/47609 or by searching for "Fix Surrey's Roads at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk