Motorists warned after Highworth Road pothole damages dozens of cars

The defect has opened up on the B4019 Highworth Road near Coleshill on the well-travelled route between Highworth and Faringdon. The pothole is so bad that a Swindon-based mobile tyre replacement company has put out a warning on Facebook to urge drivers to take care on that stretch of road because it was getting called out too many times. Louis Maynard, owner of Rubber Lou Tyres, said that a “big dirty pothole” has opened on both sides of the road, and that his company has had to fix eight tyres in a 24 hour period.

Speaking to the Adver, he said: “We get called out to a lot of potholes but that one is particularly big and quite dangerous, there are often potholes down that road, but this one is very bad.” He added: “I put the warning out because it is quite dangerous, especially at night as people won’t be able to see it and it’s dark – we were called to four or five cars at that spot just last night (Tuesday, December 19).” The area of the road where the pothole is located is managed by Oxfordshire County Council and the Fix My Street map shows that it has been reported to that local authority several times.

A dangerous pothole on Highworth Road between Highworth, Swindon and Faringdon that has been reported several times to Oxfordshire County Council (Image: Oxfordshire County Council)In a report on Saturday, December 16, one motorist said: “It is impossible to see in the dark (as I have just found out – a whole new wheel and tyre now required. “Please address this urgently, it is an accident waiting to happen with the darker nights and it’s impossible to see/avoid.” On December 17, another added: “Big potholes either side of the road forcing all traffic into the middle of the road.

Accident imminent.” On Wednesday, December 20, another report said: “I heard a large bang as I was forced to drive through the pothole/puddle, and realised that my tyre had burst/deflated.” The earliest report that could be found was on December 13, which said: “This is now an enormous wheel-swallowing pothole at the bottom of the steep hill on the left from Faringdon to Highworth.

Everyone swings out to avoid it and those who don’t probably regret it as it’s very big and deep.”

Oxfordshire County Council says the matter has been “passed onto the relevant team for investigation”.