A VICTIM of the perilous pothole known as the "Devil's Crater" has been awarded almost £1,500 in compensation after an eight-month battle with Essex County Council.
The concrete chasm, located on the A113 in Stanford Rivers, laid many a car's tyres and wheels to waste during the winter.
James Bent's car struck the gaping fissure at the end of December and since then he has been pushing the council to foot his £1,400 repair bill.
After the authority denied responsibility for the incident, Mr Bent, 23, set about gathering his evidence for court.
He said: "They claimed to have taken all reasonable steps but I believed this wasn't the case as the pothole had claimed many other victims.
"I set about making Freedom of Information requests to the council and discovered that it had a long list of consistent problems.
"The drainage on the road was not good enough and this is what led to the pothole forming.
"This was a problem that had been reported to the council on several occasions.
"Just weeks before I struck the pothole it had already been reported to the council and had not been fixed."
The pothole damaged Mr Bent's Honda Civic, buckling the wheels, taking out two tyres and damaging his suspension.
Mr Bent was finally awarded his payout of £1,500 last week and he encourages any other pothole victims to follow suit and not give up.
"If it wasn't for the evidence I had gathered they would never have paid out," he said.
"You have to keep pushing them.
"It seems that they just deny claims as a matter of course to try and cut costs.
"The council would save far more money if they just fixed the road properly in the first place.
"If everyone who is also in my position does what I did it will force them to fix our roads.
"It really shouldn't have taken this long to get what I was due by right."
Mr Bent, who lives in Chelmsford but travels through Ongar five days a week, explained the process of taking the council to court.
He said: "After I had gathered all my evidence I filed a claim online – it is that easy to do now.
"I submitted my evidence and the council had two weeks to supply a defence.
"They instead delayed it further by asking for three weeks but their eventual defence was nothing really.
"I was then awarded the money by the County Court who found in my favour, adding £50 on top as interest.
"I am obviously over the moon to get the money but this should not have happened in the first place."
The Gazette covered Mr Bent's bid back in March while also reporting on 12 victims of the very same crater in February.
A spokesman said: "Essex County Council will not comment on the specific details of individual cases.
"All compensation claims received by Essex County Council are investigated fully and costs are only paid if the council feels they would be held liable in court for having breached their statutory duties as the Highway Authority to maintain the highway.
"All claims are given the same legal consideration, whether the claim is for minor damage to a vehicle or for personal injury."
