Could pothole victory force councils to fix roads swiftly?

A LAWYER has won a battle with his council over pothole damage in a case which could help thousands of other motorists.

Clive Thorp, 68, argued that recent case law means councils must make temporary repairs within 24 hours of becoming aware of damage.

He had used a Court of Appeal judgment from 2017, covering the case of a jogger who sued Barnsley council in Yorkshire after it denied responsibility for ankle damage caused by a pothole.

Judges said ‘defects which represent an immediate or imminent hazard’ should be ‘corrected or made safe’ at the time of the inspection. They added: ‘Repairs of a permanent or temporary nature should be carried out as soon as possible, and in any case within a period of 24 hours. Permanent repairs should be carried out within 28 days.’

Mr Thorp, of Selsey, West Sussex, brought a small claims court case against his council which refused to pay out after his car was damaged for a third time in two years by a pothole on the same stretch of road.

Yesterday the council agreed to a settlement of £130 less than a fortnight before the case was due to come to court.

The figure covers tyre damage, court costs and Mr Thorp’s fees. Mr Thorp believes the legal argument he used could now set a precedent for thousands of other motorists whose vehicles are damaged because of potholes.

He said: ‘The amount of effort the council put me through to be compensated was terrible but I believe it shows my interpretation of the law is correct.

‘Other motorists should use it and make a claim. It isn’t expensive and if everyone did it, it might force councils to make more of an effort to make the roads safe.’

Mr Thorp hit the pothole – 27in long by 11in wide and 3.5in deep – while driving his Ford Ka on a B road on September 6.

Council workers had spotted the pothole more than two weeks earlier but did not patch it up.

Instead, they painted markings around the hole ahead of a planned permanent repair.

Mr Thorp had a claim for the £77 replacement of a damaged tyre rejected by West Sussex County Council on the grounds that it had ‘prioritised’ a repair and so had not been negligent. He had been paid for his two previous claims.

The commercial solicitor issued a small claims court action against the council but insisted getting the money back was not his main priority. Mr Thorp stressed: ‘I’m very cross that the public are being fobbed off by local authorities when they should know what the law is.

‘The council says it is acting legally as long as it has a system in place to deal with repairs but that is not what the law says.

‘Their idea – that potholes should be repaired within 28 days – is not good enough. A motorist or cyclist could be killed in that time. The case law needs to be used to force local authorities to act and save lives.’

Mr Thorp took his case via the online fast-track small claims court service, based in Northampton.

He said: ‘People often give up when they are knocked back by their local council and everyone seems frightened of going to the law – but it only cost me £25.’

Recent cases of cyclists being killed by potholes include Carolyn Dumbleton, 52, from Lincoln, who died after being thrown from her bike in Derbyshire last year.

Triathlete Kate Vanloo, also 52, died in 2016 after her bicycle hit a pothole hidden by a puddle and she was thrown into the path of a car.

Campaign group Cycling UK has said 400 cyclists have been killed or injured by potholes since 2007.

Roger Lawson, of the Association of British Drivers, said West Sussex Council should have fixed the pothole in Mr Thorp’s case ‘as soon as possible’. ‘If it’s left for weeks, that’s not good enough,’ he insisted.

Luke Bosdet, of the AA, added: ‘If it’s a known pothole and a vehicle is damaged by it, councils should pay compensation. The fact the council has scheduled a repair is no basis for defence.’

A West Sussex County Council spokesman said yesterday: ‘We consider all compensation claims on their own merits to ensure they are dealt with fairly.’

‘Public are fobbed off by councils’