Roads so full of potholes they're a real danger

Motorists and cyclists have demanded urgent action to fill in the gaping holes which scar the area's road network.

The injuries are known to have occurred outside Craigweil News in Barrack Lane. Barbara Doe, the shop's joint owner, said several pedestrians had fallen into the large holes. One occasion had seen an elderly man left bleeding from his wounds.

At Monday's meeting of Aldwick Parish Council, Cllr Carol Wiseman, the council's chairman, said its offices had been inundated with calls from angry residents.

"There are three massive holes in West Meads Drive," she stated.

"When the children go back to school on their bikes, and there is a lot of traffic around, it is very difficult to get out of the holes simply because there is nowhere to go."

Nyetimber county councillor Mike Coleman agreed the roads were in a poor state: "They are absolutely appalling wherever I drive."

He told the Observer: "This issue has become the top item in my postbag. I had about 12 complaints about potholes last week and that was a quiet week."

He said councillors had agreed to spend 1m extra during the next four years maintaining roads. But this would take months for the full benefit of the money to be realised.

"I have given a priority list of potholes in my area to be tackled to the highways department," he said. This included sites in Gossamer Lane and Barrack Lane.

Aldwick motorist Paul Bignell, posing by one of probably a dozen potholes in Gossamer Lane, said: "Some of these potholes are probably 6ins deep. They are everywhere you go.

"I know some motorists get worried about them. You're OK if you are in a 4x4 but the holes can throw small cars around all over the place if you have to go through them."

Don Lambert, the secretary of the 24-strong Bognor Cycling Club, said: "It is quite dangerous cycling at the moment. I think every one of our members has come off their bikes because of potholes in the past few weeks.

"That's either because they've injured themselves or their bikes have been put out of action. It's quite easy to buckle a wheel or get an impact puncture on the holes.

"The conditions are probably the worst since I moved here in 1969. The amount of traffic on the roads has gone up but the amount of money to repair them because of that usage hasn't increased enough. The recent bad weather when rain froze in the holes and damaged the road even more has just worsened the situation."

Road conditions are so bad two notices in Drift Road warn motorists to take care. Other series of potholes have to be endured in Upper Bognor Road, Summerley Lane and Linden Road among other sites.

A county council spokeswoman said it had spent 700,000 since last April reparing potholes but was unable to provide a specific figure for the Bognor area.

Meanwhile, county council leader Cllr Henry Smith has written to the government's transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, asking for extra cash to tackle the problem.

He told him: "The council has dedicated pothole patrols, and they will be working hard to effect repairs that will last as soon as weather conditions permit, but our surveys have shown that the scale of the task they face is immense."

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