Pothole left my car a write-off (From This Is Wiltshire)

Honda worker Andrew Kennedy found himself stranded without a car after he hit a massive pothole near his home on Saturday evening.

Mr Kennedy, 30, from Fiddington Clay, Market Lavington, was travelling at about 20mph when he hit the pothole on the B3098 close to the junction with the A360 at Dauntsey’s School in West Lavington.

He said: “There was this terrible bang and the car stopped dead. I didn’t know what had happened.

“You can’t see how bad the pothole is when you’re driving along. The wheel must have hit the sharp edge of the hole.”

But it wasn’t until Mr Kennedy had a local garage examine the Proton Satria GTi that he realised how much damage had actually been done.

As well as needing a new tyre and wheel, the car’s anti-roll bar and link had snapped, a shock absorber had popped, the bumper had been displaced, the bonnet and hinges had been damaged and the subframe had become misaligned.

Mr Kennedy said: “The damage has been estimated at £3,500 and the insurance company will probably want to write it off.

“So I have lost a car because Wiltshire Council can’t keep its roads maintained.”

Mr Kennedy has been working at Honda in Swindon for just over a year and the damage to his car meant he was unable to attend a meeting at the firm to discuss possible redundancies.

The company has announced it is to lose 800 jobs in the next few weeks.

He said: “I will probably be all right.

“Thankfully, I am not due back at work until next week, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said anyone who thinks they have been left out of pocket by an incident such as this one can apply for compensation from the council. Mr Kennedy said he had contacted the council and is awaiting a response.

Dick Tonge, cabinet member for highways and transport, said the government had allocated an additional £2.4m for resurfacing in Wiltshire this year and the highways department was working hard to repair potholes left by flooding and ice.

He said: “Our staff have worked tirelessly to keep the highways clear during recent bad weather.

“The hard work will continue as we strive to repair any damage to the roads the weather has caused.

“We are doing temporary repairs now, but will do more permanent repairs once the weather improves.

“The additional funding from the Government means we can resurface more mileage, making the roads more water and ice- resistant, leading to fewer potholes in future years.”

Anyone affected by potholes should report them in the first instance to the Clarence highways hotline on 0300 232323, where advice will be given on how to claim for compensation.