Mr Pothole's crater crash in Banbury spoils wedding anniversary treat
The man who has become an authority on potholes had his wedding anniversary trip ruined after crashing into a dangerous pothole in Banbury.
Mark Morrell – now known nationally and internationally as Mr Pothole – suffered wheel damage when he hit a seriously bad road defect on the A361 in Bloxham Road.
Many will have encountered the deep pothole on the edge of a telecoms access cover, close to the pelican crossing near Harriers School.
"I was driving with my wife to west Oxfordshire for a couple of days in a nice hotel to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary,” said Mr Morrell.
"There was no way I could avoid this crater as a lorry was coming towards me. I crashed into the pothole which damaged my wheel.
"But worse than this, the severe jolt has caused added injury to Mrs Pothole who has spinal problems. Hitting the pothole jarred her back badly and she spent our whole break on increased painkillers.”
By the time Mr Morrell went back to photograph the pothole – which has been on Fix My Street for weeks - it had been repaired.
But he is writing to the CEO of Oxfordshire County Council as he believes the local authority is not meeting its legal obligations under the Highways Act 1980.
He believes the situation should never have got so bad. A-roads should be inspected every 28 days and this pothole had been reported on Fix My Street weeks before, he says. Mr Morrell also says the repair is not sufficient.
The Banbury Guardian sent his questions to Oxfordshire County Council which says it cannot answer at this time.
"When was the crater repair around the telecoms ironwork frame carried out? Who carried out the actual repairs? What method was used and why? Did OCC know there are historical carriageway issues at this location? Why wasn't a good quality mastic repair carried out? This would have lasted decades if carried out correctly,” he said.
"From my investigation so far people have reported it to OCC. Most reports have been ‘closed’ on their system prior to Monday, April 27 when we hit it.
"How many times have carriageway defects been reported at this location in the last five years? What repairs were carried out as a result of these reports?
"How frequently is the section of road inspected, given it's an A road? When were these inspections carried out in the last four months?
"Did these inspections highlight issues with the area around the telecoms ironwork? What works were scheduled and carried out? What type of repair was specified?"
Oxfordshire County Council said: “We are currently working to reduce the backlog of pothole repairs.”
Mr Morrell has has received a professional's opinion on what should have been done.
"I am told the repair ‘looks poorly compacted, not laid flush with the manole which hasn’t been laid to a cambered profile. It is probably set level, so the right hand side of it is low’. ”This expert says ‘the patch will fail, pluck out and join its predecessor in the channel where some or all of it will end up, as rainwater will eventually wash it into the drain. Who does a patch like that without first sweeping up the earlier one?’.”