Fast action taken to fix ‘trench’ pothole after two cars damaged

John Sturtivant told the Middy he was driving on the B2036 from Ansty to Burgess Hill when he drove over a pothole which he describes as a ‘trench’.

His car was damaged, but he says he was unable to claim compensation because he didn’t have a police reference number, and the hole was fixed quickly.

John said the incident happened a quarter of a mile before the Oak Barn at 6.40pm on Sunday, December 1.

“There were two of us involved with that trench. The car in front of me suffered two blowouts on nearside tyres, I suffered a nearside front tyre.”

He added: “Because the hole got fixed so quickly, that night, I couldn’t report to West Sussex Highways to claim for my tyre.

“The tyre that the pothole wrecked was only five weeks old.

“I called the police as the pothole was in a very precarious position and so was my car, and the police called the Tarmac company who arrived twenty minutes later.”

John said that the exit end of the pothole was ‘eight inches deep’ - so deep he could see a Roman road surface in the hole.

West Sussex County Council said: “We are concerned to hear about any accident. If people feel they do need to make a claim on potholes, the process is set out clearly on the West

Sussex County Council website together with an online form.

“To clarify, you do not need a police reference number to make a claim, just follow the process on the website.

“If the police feel immediate action is required following an incident to make the road safe, they will contact us as the local highway authority and we will arrange for significant defects to be repaired within two hours.”

If you spot a pothole you can report it to West Sussex County Council on their website: www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-problem-with-a-road-or-pavement/.

You can also report potholes using the Love West Sussex App, which can be downloaded for free.

Potholes on the A23, A27 and M23 should be reported to Highways England.