Reading: Council Faces Legal Action Over £800 Bill for Damaged Wheel and Tyres

By Denna Bowman

An angry motorist has lashed out at highway chiefs who have refused to compensate him for £800 worth of damage to his car wheel and tyres caused by a pothole.

Sales rep John Allan’s BMW suffered a wrecked wheel and punctured tyres after the impact with the crater near West Wratting.

Now 51-year-old Mr Allan is considering legal action in a bid to get Cambridgeshire County Council to pay his £821 bill.

The Council claims it did everything reasonable to prevent the defect, even though the road had not been inspected for 11 months.

Mr Allan said: “I’m not surprised if the pothole wasn’t there at the last inspection if it was 11 months ago.

“I’m not blaming the council for the pothole, I’m just saying that once a year isn’t the proactive service we are told we are getting.

“If a car is knackered by a pothole, they should pay up.”

Last month it was revealed that another motorist whose car had been damaged by a pothole had won his legal battle with the council over its refusal to compensate him for his £802 repair bill.

Mr Allan said: “I will probably go down the legal route because having seen what other people have achieved, I am prepared to do it.”

Cllr Mac McGuire, the council’s highways boss, said: “We have pothole teams operating around the country repairing defects.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 9:41 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.