‘Absolutely huge’ pothole on Turners Hill: drivers warn Sussex motorists after damaging tyres

Several people said they hit the hole at about 5.45pm on Saturday, January 14, on Selsfield Road (B2028) just before Tarana Bar & Restaurant.

West Sussex County Council said a temporary emergency repair had been completed as soon as possible, but a full repair had not been possible because of the severe weather.

Josephine Blake, 73, from Hyde Heath in Buckinghamshire, said she and her husband were returning home from a trip to Eastbourne that evening.

She said: “All of a sudden there was the most horrendous bang and we thought ‘oh my God, that’s the tyre gone’.”

She continued: “I'd only had a tyre burst a few days previously, not in Sussex but in the London borough of Harrow. I’d just replaced the tyre, which was £150.”

Josephine said they pulled into Tarana’s car park where they found more people changing their tyres after hitting the pothole too. She said they had to make the rest of the journey home at 50mph on a space saver tyre.

Josephine also said she was could not believe the number of people who had damaged their tyres in the same spot. "It was like a television comedy, all these people turning up,” she said.

Martin Angus, 55, from Ardingly, said he hit the pothole at 5.45pm and also changed Josephine’s tyre.

He said: “I was driving along and saw nothing and I hit the pothole. It was an instant flat tyre so I pulled in the first safe space, which was the Tarana car park, to find four or five other vehicles in there all with the same thing.”

Martin said part of the pothole looks like it has previously been repaired but the edge is now sharp. He believes that local councils need more funding from central government to tackle the UK’s pothole problem.

Samantha Bradbrook, 34, from Crawley Down, said she was coming home from her mother’s in Ardingly on Saturday when she hit the pothole.

She said: “I was following a car and didn’t see them swerve or anything so I don’t know if they hit the pothole too. I couldn’t see it at all but there was a big loud bang and then my car told me that I’d lost the tyre pressure.”

Like the others she pulled into Tarana. She said: “Martin pulled up alongside me one minute later and then there was another man in there as well and apparently another woman had just left.”

Samantha would like the potholes all over Sussex fixed as soon as possible. She said: “I think everyone's got wind now of how many potholes there are around and everyone’s driving so slowly and obviously having to go around all these holes.”

A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “This is a very good ‘case study’ to illustrate some of the challenges currently faced by our emergency road crews and pothole repair teams across the county.

“In this instance, a temporary, emergency repair was completed as soon as possible. Our teams were then faced with the challenges of severe weather, with persistent, torrential rain causing high water table levels and flood water to overflow onto the road. The Selsfield Road temporary repair has been under water at times, forcing us to postpone before a full repair can be scheduled – which will be as soon as possible.

“Across the county, many stretches of road have been flooded where the surrounding ground’s ‘natural drainage’ has been overwhelmed – forcing us to close roads in some places because of our safety concerns. Sadly, even the most sophisticated highway drainage systems can be overwhelmed in severe weather conditions. The plunging temperatures and icy conditions that followed have added to the challenges faced by our emergency road crews and pothole repair teams.

“However, we would continue to urge people to please report pothole concerns: Report a problem with a road or pavement so that we can investigate and, if a safety concern, take action as soon as possible. Please remember that the repair may only be temporary, with the full repair to follow.

“We do understand people’s frustrations when they see temporary repairs and ask ‘Why not do the full job in the first place?’. Our preference would always be for a full repair first, but that’s not always possible. For example, the work may need temporary traffic lights to be booked and put in place first for the safety of the workforce and public, and this needs the road space to be available, recognising the impact on local traffic flow.”

The County Council said the best way for residents to report potholes is via a new, online, e-form. There is no need to download an app and the online maps are easy to use with greater levels of detail. Residents can visit www.westsussex.gov.uk, select ‘roads and travel’ and ‘report a pothole online’. The website also offers information on what pothole sizes the council prioritises, and the council has revised and improved its updates so the information people receive about their report is more frequent and detailed.

The County Council spokesman said: “Residents who historically reported via Love West Sussex are being redirected to the correct online form for the issue they want to report. People who have bookmarked or saved the Love West Sussex web online URL and/or App to their device are asked to please delete and save: Report a problem with a road or pavement. Residents now also have the opportunity to view existing/open reports, pin-pointed on the map, and subscribe to updates by simply entering their email address, saving time on duplicate reports being submitted.”