Motorists frustrated at strings of ‘dangerous’ pot holes opening up on A15 in recent weeks

A number of motorists have reported a string of over 20 large potholes that have opened up and widening along the driving lines in both directions pf the A15 between Ashby de la Launde and Ruskington turn offs.

Ben Thatcher told the Standard desribed them as “horrendous potholes”. He claimed they were being ignored by the council. “It’s a risk to all who travel on that stretch of road,” he said.

He added: “Hitting them at 50/60mph, in the dark is pretty horrendous, you have to choose between driving half on the verge or too close to the centre line - not something I’d normally pursue, but having seen the state this week while commuting it’s only a matter of time till there’s a crash.

Another local driver reported suffering a buckled wheel on his Mercedes.

Drivers have reporting the holes to the council’s online Fix My Street service over the last few days.

One said: “There are so many dangerous deep potholes on both sides of the road between the junction from Ruskingon to Navenby Lane along the A15. This road is dangerous and is causing accidents and damage to cars.

“There is no way to avoid them and is causing cars to swerve into the oncoming traffic. Some odd repairs have been done but this has caused the holes to become deeper.

“(It is) very hard to spot all the potholes in the dark. The potholes are getting worse each week and has been a problem since early November.”

Another said: “On my daily commute it’s like a video game, dodge the pothole.”

Some drivers have made claims for damage.

The council says it is now taking action to speed up repairs on this stretch.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council said: “The very wet and then very cold weather we’ve had since Christmas has caused multiple potholes to form very quickly on this section of the A15. Teams have been out a number of times to carry out repairs in recent days and weeks.

“It’s clear that this area of the road is reaching the end of its life, so we’ve brought forward the resurfacing scheme here and that’ll take place later this year.”

In the meantime the council says it will still go out to fill in potholes along this stretch of road. A spokesman added: “We’re well aware it’s an issue and we’re doing what we can to keep it safe until we can get it properly resurfaced.”

Meanwhile, Sleaford area driver Tom Suddaby reported a bad pothole that he hit in November on Aunsby Road between Aswarby and Aunsby.

He said: “I reported it to the council in November and they said that it’s not dangerous enough to get any compensation and it has not been repaired since.”

Mr Suddaby said he hit the pothole on his way into Sleaford: “I burst a tyre and severely damaged an alloy. I had to purchase a second hand one for £120.

“The pothole was approximately one metre long approx, 50cm wide and 16cm deep, but the council is saying that it’s not dangerous enough for me to claim.”

The Standard previously reported on this stretch of road branding it ‘pothole alley’ when a motorist counted 60 potholes and even fitted their whole family lying next to the holes to show their size.

Tom said: “It still hasn’t been repaired and you cannot drive a car up there without hitting a pothole.”