THE pothole situation in West Putford is becoming a growing concern for some but Devon County Council (DCC) has assured it will carry out repairs as soon as possible.

Currently, DCC is waiting to hear back from a utility search to ensure it does not interfere with any underground services while carrying out the repairs — once the results are in it will be able to get to work on making the road level again.

The pothole in question has been caused by a subsidence of the road surface, which was in turn caused by the soft foundations of the road.

The 11ft by 3ft pothole has been of some concern to residents and passers through for some time as lorries regularly use the route through West Putford, which is only helping to deteriorate the integrity of the road further.

Cllr Allin Bewes, vice chair of the West and East Putford Parish Council, told the Post: “It is very, very bad indeed. It is on the West Putford side of the bridge just a little way down from there and it has been there for a long time now, weeks and weeks in fact.

“I have informed the district and county councils about it and must have phoned Devon County Council and highways a dozen times, but so far nothing has been done.”

Cllr Bewes explained that the council had previously carried out some ‘temporary repairs’ but unfortunately these were not sufficient to stop the pothole from reforming and becoming larger. He said: “They did fill it in but as lorries went through, as they normally do, the road surface began to subside and the pothole reformed.

“They didn’t put any hard core ground down and that is what they needed to do because without the hard core foundation the road was bound to just slip like this.”

When asked if he thought these potholes were causing a danger Cllr Bewes said: “Yes they are. There is another one over on Barton Hill that is just as bad. That one is over on the East Putford side of the bridge. When lorries pass the one in West Putford their wheels go over the side and the one in the East is just as bad.

“If I was coming up the hill in East Putford and a bike was coming down the other way I shudder to think what would happen to the bike as there is no where to go but in the pothole.”

Cllr Bewes added: “Sometimes I think they forget the countryside. If there was a hole in the middle of Holsworthy they would sort it out but because we are a rural parish they won’t and that is the problem.”

In response to this a Devon County Council (DCC) spokesperson said: “The underlying construction of the road is particularly soft, which has led to the deterioration of the surface and hampered traditional pothole repairs.

“We are planning to excavate and reconstruct the road but we are currently awaiting the results of utility searches to ascertain what underground services are in the area.

“Once we have received this information we will endeavour to carry out the repair scheme as soon as possible.”

It has been estimated that DCC needs to spend about £60-million of capital funding a year on carriageway structural maintenance alone in Devon. This year, it received about £43-million from government for all highway structural maintenance work — leaving it £17-million short of what it needs.

Devon has the biggest road network of any highway authority in the country and with the cuts in government funding DCC is not able to carry out all the work needed to some minor roads — this means that many will remain in a poor condition.

The council spokesperson added: “We are finalising the schemes where the £1.9-million Pothole Action Funding will be spent, but sites across the county have been inspected for consideration. However, Devon has the biggest road network of any highway authority in the country and the need for work far outweighs available funding.”