A large city has been branded the pothole capital of England with furious locals insisting there are “craters everywhere you look.” Hereford, known for its crumbling roads, had a whopping 25,000 reported to its council last year alone.
Data from the FixMyStreet platform showed one pothole was reported for every 127th resident in Hereford. However, Herefordshire Council is struggling to keep up with demand, with figures showing only half of reported potholes are filled in.
And now locals have unveiled exactly what it’s like to live with an uneven network of roads. They also claim the pavements are “falling apart”, with some too scared to go out after dark for fear of tripping.
Great-gran Jenni Gough, 76, says the state of the roads outside her home in Andrews Close is “appalling”. The retired PA said: “I have lived here for 25 years and I’ve never known the roads and pavements to be so bad.”
She added: “There are about three potholes at the end of our road which have been there for three years and they just get bigger and bigger.”
“About six months ago the council filled them in but already they are sinking and it won’t be long until they are back to what they were.” She concluded with a story of a friend who was cycling on a main road and didn’t see a pothole because it had been raining and the road looked flat.
“They went over their handlebars and landed in the middle of the road. Luckily the cars stopped in time but it could have been a disaster.”
Jenni slammed Herefordshire Council for wasting cash on “pointless” road markings instead of fixing potholes. She said: “A few months ago and for some unknown reason, the council painted yellow lines on a roundabout.”
“A few weeks later workmen came out and covered them up.” If they’ve got money to waste on pointless yellow lines then they should spend more on repairing the roads properly.”
Tyre-fitter Jake Bow, 29, told us he helps drivers with pothole damage at least three times a day. He said: “It’s just getting ridiculous at the moment. We’re called out at least three times a day to help people who’s tyres have burst or cars damaged.”
“The people who we help are just driving on normal roads in the city but theses giant potholes are everywhere. We have a lot of people who limp to us with flat tyres who we are helping too. The council are doing nothing to help.”
Jake also had his own run-in with a pothole last month and added: “I was going quite slowly but hit this large pothole in the road and my front driver’s side tyre just went bang.”
“I took a few pictures of the damage and the pothole before I made a claim to the council because I’ve heard stories of people claiming for compensation from the council only for the council to rush out and quickly fill in the hole.”
“It’s like whack-a-mole but the council need to get a grip on the situation. It’s getting to the point where it’s almost not worth the risk of driving into Hereford.”
“We get a lot of traffic on the road and when the potholes are full of water we get dirty splashes all up our front door. We’ve also had a cracked window after a car went over a pothole and it kicked up a load of loose gravel and stones.”
“We always report the potholes and the council come out and fill them in but it makes no difference. A few months later they’re back and bigger than ever.”
“It’s a really terrible situation and Hereford is well deserving in it’s title as England’s pothole capital. I don’t drive but I walk everywhere and even that is dangerous.”
“Sometimes I feel like my short trip to the shops is like walking across the surface of the moon.”
“There are literally craters everywhere you look. I don’t walk anywhere after dark in case I trip over and fall flat on my face.”
Another resident reported: “The street lighting isn’t very good, you can’t see them, you hit them potholes, come off your bike, it’s terrible.” The local council has yet to comment.
