POTHOLES along Chapel Street in Holsworthy have blighted the area for many years, causing concern amongst residents.

Mayor Jon Hutchings wants to assure the public that the town council is doing everything within its power to reach a solution — even though that power is limited.

To ensure something is being done, Cllr Hutchings organised a tour of Holsworthy, with deputy mayor Colin Punter, for two Devon County Council Highways officials.

The two council representatives accompanied the Highways team and showed them various sites that have caused local safety concerns — including the potholes under the bridge at Chapel Street.

Cllr Hutchings said: “Unfortunately it is out of our hands as town councillors, and even for our district councillors.

“Devon County Councillor Barry Parsons was able to hold a meeting with the head of highways recently and on the back of that meeting we took the area representative for Holsworthy and his boss around the town to discuss and highlight a number of road safety issues.

“Everyone has moaned about Chapel Street and I want to assure people that we are doing what we can at our level to bring this issue to the attention of the relevant authorities.”

Cllr Hutchings said there are certain criteria, set out by the county council, for potholes that dictate whether they are in need of repair.

He and the Highways representatives measured the two largest potholes on Chapel Street. One ‘hit the criteria’ but the other was short of the depth requirement to be deemed ‘in need of repair’ at this time.

The issue of loose manhole covers was also brought up, with two being considered a ‘safety issue’.

Cllr Hutchings added: “The problem is that they [Highways representatives] are not the ones who make the decisions. We can only alert them to the issues but I want to assure everyone that we are doing what we can. Even they were concerned with the state of the area.

“It will now go up through the chain of command, but we are hopeful that because it has been brought to their full attention progress will be made towards repair soon.”

Following the tour, a spokesman for Devon County Council said: “That section of Chapel Street will be resurfaced, with the pothole fixed in the process. It is on our list of programmed works and we are in the process of finalising a commencement date.”