Massive potholes that have claimed numerous victims are a “death trap waiting to happen”

The damage to Adrian Heapy's Jaguar XKR. Image from Adrian Heapy

By Eddie Bisknell – Local Democracy Reporting Service

Massive potholes on a Derbyshire road that have claimed numerous victims are a “death trap waiting to happen” according to one motorist.

Adrian Heapy hit out at the “joke” of a situation after he hit a flooded six-foot pothole in Kedleston Road, near its junction with Church Road, while driving his beloved “hobby car”, a 2001 Jaguar XKR.

The resulting crash caused one of the vehicle’s tyres to split around its entire circumference and damage the wheel.

Mr Heapy said the legwork required to find replacements was more substantial than the financial cost, around £350, due to the shortage in parts for a 25-year-old vehicle of which only 8,000 were ever made.

The 74-year-old, who spends around £6,000 a year on the car’s upkeep, had taken the vehicle out on a rare drive to enjoy a meal at The Joiner’s Arms in Quarndon with his son-in-law.

He said the potholes have been developing for around three months with no repairs during that time, with three of his fellow villagers also falling foul of problematic twin potholes on the road.

The county council has said it is seeing “high levels of demand” for pothole repairs following a “large increase” over winter.

One of the potholes measures around seven feet in length, is four feet in width and 15cm in depth, with Mr Heapy swerving this one and succumbing to the second divot, a pothole measuring around six foot in length, two feet in width and 10cm in depth.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It is my hobby car, it keeps me busy and it is well-kept. It was the first time I had taken it out this year, for a pub lunch with my son-in-law.

“It is just a joke. Three of my neighbours have had their wheels and tyres shredded in the same spot.

“I have had the car for 20 years and it only has 60,000 miles, I keep it spotless. I spend around £6,000 a year looking after it.

“These potholes have been there for three months and they should have been sorted out.

“People could have got killed on that, it is so deep. It is a big risk for cyclists, it is very dangerous.

“It is a death trap waiting to happen, eventually there will be a fatality.”

Mr Heapy has lived in a village near Derby for 40 years and says the routes around Derbyshire have become “vastly worse”, particularly over the last couple of years.

He puts this down to a lack of repairs but also poor patch-ups when work is carried out, saying these often only last a month, with the returning pothole then left again for many more months.

Mr Heapy said: “Derbyshire roads are the worst in the country. I regularly drive around Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Worcestershire and Derbyshire’s roads are far worse.

“The East Midlands is not good generally but Derbyshire’s have to be the worst in the country.”

Councillor Charlotte Hill, the county’s cabinet member for highways said: “We are experiencing high levels of demand for pothole repairs across the county, so have increased our resources accordingly. This ensures we continue to provide a prompt response once we become aware of any issues.

“In this instance, we made repairs to Kedleston Road on the 27th February, which was the soonest we could carry out remedial work.

“Unfortunately, we have seen a large increase in potholes this winter, and our 34 reactive teams are working to repair as much as possible.

“Please continue to report in any potholes to the council, so we are aware of any issues, and can repair potholes as quickly as possible.”

Current figures, up to 2024 (before the current Reform administration took charge) from the county council, published last year as part of new central Government transparency measures for pothole repairs, show 28 per cent of A roads, 38 per cent of B and C roads and 36 per cent of unadopted roads in Derbyshire are rated “red” for routes in “poor condition”.

Cllr Hill has previously heralded “fence to fence” repairs for roads, fixing all defects in a specific area, and a focus on longer-term fixes instead of pothole patchups.

Last July, a county council meeting was told it would take 185 years of funding – in excess of £1.5 billion – to bring Derbyshire’s roads up to standard.

The authority said that it had 3,000 potholes outstanding in October last year and was on track to clear that backlog entirely.

Last April, council leader, Reform’s councillor Alan Graves, said Derbyshire’s roads would be noticeably better “within a year”.