A "CRATER field" of potholes on a sharp bend are being neglected by the council, it has been claimed.
The road defects, which can be found on a tight curve in Mill Lane, High Ongar, have been getting progressively deeper for months.
This is despite High Ongar resident Scott Wardrope reporting the issue to Essex County Council nearly two months ago.
He told the Gazette this week: "It is dangerous and not right. The holes are just going to get worse and worse, and will cause an accident if they don't get repaired.
"My partner nearly had an accident on that corner when she had to swerve to avoid them – these are not small holes.
"I drive on that road twice a day in order to get to work – you have to slow right down to avoid doing any damage when you hit the potholes.
"People are even going on to the other side of the road. This could cause a serious accident."
Mr Wardrope, an investment banker who lives in Mill Grove, added: "The attitude of the council towards the potholes is just wrong. They should make an effort to fix them quickly.
"If they are just prioritising then how they can claim this is not a priority I have no idea.
"They haven't even made an effort to put in a temporary fix. The holes are metres long and pockmark the road.
"It is right on a blind corner so no one can see them until the last minute.
"They are a real hazard and a threat to safety. It is surprising that nothing has happened yet – the road is broken up like a crater field."
Fay Hewett, the owner of Balloonatics in Ongar High Street, said: "Potholes around here are terrible.
"The council should do something about it before more accidents happen."
The mother-of-three continued: "It is starting to get ridiculous.
"The state of our roads has just got worse and worse and the council haven't even attempted to fix most of them."
A county council spokesman said on Monday: "Essex Highways inspectors will be carrying out a full inspection of the site this afternoon and following this, road defects in that location will be prioritised and repaired.
"Following the budget announcement in January 2013, we will be spending more than £180million over the next four years on maintaining and enhancing the road network.
"Demonstrating our commitment to giving Essex residents quality highways, an additional investment of £35million will also be added to the £180million over the next two years.
"We are continuing to monitor conditions and carry out repairs as quickly as possible, with highways gangs focussed on fixing potholes, especially safety critical defects that have been reported to us.
"We are also increasing our capacity so we can repair as many potholes as we can.
"We continue to urge residents to report road defects, such as potholes, using the reporting tool on the Essex County Council website which will help us to repair road defects as quickly and efficiently as possible."
See www.essex.gov.uk/highways for details.
