FIFTY-FIVE thousand potholes have been repaired in the past year, according to council statistics, but drivers are still being left out of pocket because of the state of the roads.
With an extra £11 million being invested in highways maintenance for 2012/2013, Essex County Council has identified potholes as one of the main bugbears for drivers. It was announced in February that an additional £180m would be spent on improving and maintaining the county's road network over the next four years, including an extra £35m over the next two years.
They claim that another 4,200 potholes have been inspected and are due for repair.
But the sheer number of potholes and craters in the roads caused by the latest bout of cold weather means that the request for road repairs is on the increase.
Steve Rogers, 60, of Marks Lane, Rettendon Common, says that he spent six months pleading with the county council's highways department to fix a crater in South Hanningfield Road caused by water running across the road because of a blocked drain.
After a handful of accidents on the road were caused by the crater, Mr Rogers claims the pothole has now been fixed, but added: "Overall, the roads are in very poor condition. It's not a first-class repair, but it's 100 per cent better than it was."
Another driver, James Bent, 23, is threatening to sue Essex County Council after a pothole dubbed 'Devil's Crater' caused £1,400 damage to his car.
Mr Bent, from Chelmsford, was driving along the A113 in Stanford Rivers, near Ongar, when his Honda Civic went into the crater, buckling the wheels, taking out two tyres and damaging his suspension.
The impact was even big enough to activate the vehicle's safety system, causing the engine to cut out – something which is only supposed to happen after a serious collision.
"It was very scary. There was a loud bang and the engine just cut out," said Mr Bent.
"The council has failed to maintain the drains on the road, leaving torrents of water on both sides in wet weather. This probably caused the pothole in the first place."
Braintree District Councillor James Abbot believes that the council need to rethink their pothole protocol.
"They make all these grand statements about having an extra £11 million and they do fix holes, but you have to jump and scream to have them filled," he said.
"There are real issues around road safety and damage to vehicles. I think it needs a major shake-up.
"At the moment you are not really sure what their protocol is. In the nicest possible way they really need a boot up the proverbial."
