Huge Clacton potholes cause couple to pay large sum

Kirsty Harrington and her partner Lee Brett have been left feeling upset after having to pay a total of £488 in less than a month after their vehicle struck two potholes.

Most recently, they were driving down St Osyth Road, near Branston Road, when they struck a large crater which bent the car's wheel and split its tyre.

Kirsty, who has lived in Clacton for five years, said: "We are pretty disgusted if I am honest, it cost £188, plus ruined our last day before going back to work after Christmas getting it fixed.

Huge - The pothole in St Osyth Road (Image: Kirsty Harrington)

"It's not the first time it has happened either, just before Christmas we got caught in one close to where we live and it caused around £300 of damage."

After the incident, the couple went back to the pothole to measure how big it was but, to their surprise, it had been filled in before they could measure it.

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Kirsty said: "We took pictures of the pothole and went home to get a tape measure so we could prove how big it was, but less than 15 minutes later it had been filled in.

"There is no way that it's been filled in properly in that timeframe."

Split - The tyre and its damage (Image: Kirsty Harrington)

Whilst the couple were getting their car fixed at the garage, they came across other drivers whose vehicles had reportedly met the same fate.

Kirsty said: "In the time it took us to get the wheel fixed, we met two other people in the garages who had been caught by potholes along that road."

Bosses at Essex Highways have now responded.

A spokesman said: “All defects reported to us are assessed by an inspector and prioritised accordingly.

“In order to maximise our resources, we have to prioritise the most urgent issues first. Residents are encouraged to report any defects through our online Tell Us tool at essexhighways.org/tell-us.

“Information about our repair criteria and maintenance strategy can be found at essexhighways.org/how-we-prioritise-highway-issues.”