EPPING: Crash victim calls for potholes to be fixed (From This Is Local London)

A motorist is calling for urgent action on the potholes in his Epping road after first his Mini and then his leg disappeared down a crater.

9:20am Sunday 12th August 2012 in Where I Live By Clare Hardy, Senior reporter

A MOTORIST is calling for urgent action on the potholes in his road after first his Mini and then his leg disappeared down a crater.

Alan Wheatley, 65, drove into the hole in Epping Upland, which he said was more than a foot deep, on Sunday night and while he was out of his car inspecting the damage, he fell over, tearing a ligament.

“My knee was as big as my head,” he said. “There was an almighty crash and I thought ‘let me get out and have a look’ and my foot has given way on the edge of this big hole.

“I ended up on the floor and I have to have surgery. The car has cost £700 to repair.”

The art gallery owner said he would have to miss work until his leg healed and plans to put in a compensation claim with Essex County Council.

He added that elderly residents living further down the lane found it hard to negotiate the craters in the road, which have been getting worse over the past six months.

“The council has been fobbing everyone off for the past six months,” he added. “I can imagine they’re inundated with holes in the road like this, but there are invalids who live up here and they’ve not done anything.”

His neighbour, Brian Brundell, 78, said: “Somebody died down here recently and we told the council the funeral cars were coming, but they did absolutely nothing.

“When you have visitors, you have to tell them to slow down to a walking pace.
 

“It’s ridiculous – we all pay top council tax.”

He said the holes had become larger as larger, more modern farm vehicles started using the road and it was not up to the job.

“Farm tractors and trailers have got bigger,” he added. “They’ve done a huge amount of damage.”

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Essex highways is sorry to hear about this accident and wishes the resident a speedy recovery.

“Highways engineers will be working in the Shingle Hall Road area in the next 4-6 weeks as a part of our £11 million extra investment into pot hole repair.

“Defects can be reported using the dedicated Highways internet page https://secureweb1.essexcc.gov.uk/Highways/Report-a-highway-problem.aspx  or by calling 0845 603 7631.”