Mum speaks of her trauma after tyre is wrecked by hidden pothole

Sonia Moir, an internal communications manager, said she was driving along Balcombe Road towards Haywards Heath a few days before Christmas when she went over a pothole and had to pull into the Cowdray Arms car park.

She said: “I had only had new tyres fitted a few days earlier so hoped the tyre was ok but it quickly became apparent it wasn’t as the warning light came on.

“I found other drivers who had suffered the same fate and more continued to enter the car park after me.”

She said it was ‘impossible to see the pothole’ because it was dark and raining. Her car had a burst tyre and the wheel was damaged, she said.

Sonia says her claim to West Sussex County Council of £100 for the tyre was rejected, and the council told her there was ‘no automatic entitlement’ to compensation.

It said that an inspection on Monday, December 9, found no defects and an inspection on Friday, December 20, found a pothole, at which time ‘appropriate arrangements’ for repairs were made, Sonia said. The council said the damage did not involve negligence on the part of West Sussex County Council.

Ms Moir said: “It caused me a great deal of distress – I had just had my front tyres replaced the week before and as a single mother, that kind of expense just before Christmas is not easy for me to manage, and I was on my way to my work Christmas party, having just dropped my daughter off with my mum, so this caused a lot of disruption for me that I could have done without that evening for sure.

“I will be appealing the decision because so many get this as a standard first letter.

“They knew it was there, but that’s not a defence.”

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: “We are concerned to hear of any accident but cannot comment on specific claims, so the following are general comments about our approach to highway maintenance and legal obligations.

“We take the maintenance and repair of roads in West Sussex very seriously and have a duty to take reasonable steps to maintain our highway network.

“We inspect our roads and pavements on a programmed basis in line with national guidance and carry out repairs according to a published set of criteria.

“We consider all compensation claims on their own merits to ensure they are dealt with fairly. The decision on liability is based on the facts of each case, and the law.

“We inform all claimants that Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 allows us a defence if we can show that reasonable steps were taken to maintain the highway.”

If you spot a pothole on our roads 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, or via the Love West Sussex app.

The website gives full details of the information you need to record a complaint, and how the council classifies different-sized potholes.

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