A DRIVER claims he was left with a £200 repair bill after his car hit a pothole.
Trevor Wilson, 46, of Kirkburton, couldn’t avoid the hole as he came face-to-face with a minibus on a narrow road.
His Ford Fiesta crashed down the hole in Tolson Crescent near the Tesco Express in Dalton.
Trevor struck the hole after dark but was able to drive home.
The following morning he had a flat tyre.
He changed the nearside wheel and took the tyre to be repaired – only to find the wheel was buckled and the suspension was bust.
Trevor said: “I wasn’t going very fast but I had to pull over as there was a minibus coming in the opposite direction.
“I saw the pothole but there was nothing I could do to avoid it. I knew it was a bad one as soon as I hit it.”
He changed his wheel and took the tyre for repair.
The garage told him his wheel was also beyond repair and advised him to buy a secondhand replacement from a local scrapyard.
He bought one and took it back to the garage who then found the front suspension was damaged.
In all the damage cost him £216 to put right.
Trevor reported the pothole to Kirklees Council and said it had obviously not been properly repaired previously.
“Kirklees only seem to make loose fill repairs and as soon as it rains all the tarmac washes away,” he said.
Trevor described the pothole as a “potential deathtrap” for a cyclist and wanted to warn others.
He said he didn’t believe there was much point in pursuing Kirklees for compensation.
A council spokesman said: “The pothole has now been located and dealt with.”
