THIS pothole – almost the depth of a McDonald's drink cup – wrecked a student's car tyre, but she was refused compensation because Essex County Council deemed the road fit for purpose.
Emily Wakeling was driving down Lodge Road on her way to Writtle College when her brand new Ford Fiesta got stuck in the 15 centimetre deep hole which shredded her tyre and pulled the tracking out of line.
As she began taking photos of the damage, she says she then witnessed another driver who fell foul of the giant pothole.
But after a three-month investigation, the county council, responsible for highways, refused to pay the £120 it cost Emily to have her car fixed.
The 20-year-old from South Woodham Ferrers, who studies equine breeding and stud management, said: "I am a student, I work part-time at a stables, I pay all my own fees and it did put me in financial trouble as money was tight. The council was adamant that it won't give me my money back because it thinks the road isn't dangerous and well-maintained.
"I don't know if they have seen the road, there are cracks in the pavements and patches all over the road.
"I was doing the speed limit and the hole still ripped my tyre off.
"It is just frustrating that the only option they gave me was to take it to court, but I couldn't afford that."
According to council records sent to Emily, there were another 19 people who complained about their cars being damaged by the same pothole before and after the date her claim was made, but the authority also says it fixed the pothole on the day she reported her accident.
But despite the complaints, the report stated that the last inspection was on August 22 ,2012 and "at the time no defect was considered to be dangerous was observed during the course of that inspection".
But with recent snowy weather, Emily says the pothole has opened up again. Her mum, Sue Webb, 51, said: "It just seems like the council has washed their hands of it, I was so angry.
"My daughter is a student and I do not believe that she should be paying that money for something which was not her fault.
"It makes me angry that some politicians get to swan around in chauffeur-driven cars but my daughter will not get any compensation."
County councillor James Abbott thinks the council should "come clean" about its policy with potholes.
Last summer Essex County Council announced its plan to plough an extra £11 million into its roads, and claimed 1,200 roads are to be fixed by May, including 482 roads in Chelmsford.
But Cllr Abbott wonders where this money has gone. He said: "It has not been made clear whether this is completely new additional money, and it is not clear if they have already spent it. But I think the bigger issue is the length of time it takes to respond to complaints.
"In this sense it is just incompetent and where people are at risk they are negligent. It is sad to have people getting injured or suffering damage to vehicles.
"If only the council could just tell the public the truth, that there has been a major reorganisation and a lot of people have lost their jobs, so there is a huge backlog of work.
"The system is not working and it needs to work out a much simpler way of doing things.
"I think if someone has had loss then they should claim, that's the sad thing about it. If the council had sorted the problem in the first place people would not be claiming."
