Incensed drivers are blaming a local council after their cars have been caught in a trap designed to protect a bus lane which they claim is writing off their cars.
People in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, have said that as many as five motorists a week are caught in the carriageway trap which they claim is disguised by weeds.
The slit in the road can be found at the junction of Station Road and Harrison Way and is meant to stop vehicles whizzing through the bus lane.
The trap itself is a diagonal slit in the road, 30cm deep that crosses the majority of the carriageway.
Buses and cars that are as wide can drive down the lane without falling in, but vehicles with smaller wheelbases can’t escape the trap.
Despite locals’ protestations, the council has hit out at them saying that if they can’t see a “big hole in the ground” then they shouldn’t be driving at all.
The daughter of an 80-year-old motorist that recently fell into the chasm says the ordeal has left both her parents “shaken and traumatised”.
She claims their car was seriously damaged in the incident and they are still finding out whether or not it’s a write-off.
She insists her dad was one of five drivers who fell into the trap last week.
She claims he’s sufficiently able to be behind a wheel and simply misinterpreted the exit signs leading out of a carpark.
She explained: “He somehow ended up back in the same car park again.
“He said the signage was poor and if he exited the same way, he’d end up doing the same thing. So he went a different way and ended up in the car trap.
“We know of someone in their 20s who has also gone into the trap – you can’t argue this is because of my father’s age.
“Considering the number of incidents, there must be another way to manage the junction that doesn’t cause this much damage to vehicles.”
Another enraged driver is Phillipa Parker, who drove into the hole last summer, which she claimed to the council was full of weeds.
She also blamed poor signposting on her falling in: “The signs were totally inadequate. Motorists were driving up to the junction while we were waiting for the recovery.
“If we weren’t there, they would’ve made the same mistake. The abuse and awful language people were shouting as they passed us was also shocking.
“It left us with a very bad impression of St Ives afterwards.”
Cllr Kevin Reynolds from Cambridgeshire County Council expressed little sympathy for motorists falling foul of the trap.
He said: “If people driving along that road cannot see a big hole in the ground in front of them then I would argue they wouldn’t be able to see a small child.
“I would question whether they should be behind the wheel at all.”
