Is this the worst road in Buckingham for potholes?

Residents have complaining for years about a road with so many "badly filled" potholes that is a danger to motorists, they claim.

The busy Buckingham ring road between Tesco roundabout and Bletchley roundabout comes under the jurisdiction of Buckinghamshire Council.

Local people say the problem has been ongoing for years but is still so bad that drivers are swerving to avoid the holes damaging their cars.

Resident Robert Jameson, a retired government scientist living in Buckingham, has been battling for some time on behalf of 25 other householders.

He said: "A small number of potholes on the Buckingham ring road have been given a short term temporary filling repair but there still remain many others unrepaired which become worse daily. It is an extremely busy road and traffic is swerving to avoid the huge holes.

"This problem has been ongoing for years and the road damage and pot holes are so extensive that they are a danger to the public, particularly the danger at very busy times.

"I have been trying to get Buckinghamshire Council to properly repair the ring road. A complete rebuild of the road surface and its underlying support system is required to render this roadway safe to use."

Mr Jameson claims the repairs are inadequate. "All the council do is put a bit of tarmac in each hole which last just three days due to the heavy goods traffic and huge car numbers that have to use this section," he said.

"The situation continues indefinitely because the inadequate repairs only last for two to three months maximum.. Traffic and cyclists, including lorries, are swerving, at this time, to avoid the seriously dangerous holes in the ring road to avoid vehicle damage.

"This endangers oncoming traffic, cyclists and overtaking, as well as pedestrians including children, particularly at school times."

In one of his emails to Buckinghamshire Council, Mr Jameson even warns: "Any accidents or deaths/injuries to road users, as a result of your failures to keep this extremely busy ring road in a permanently safe, useable condition, will be subject in future to a High Court Writ in your name."

His email adds: "This lack of safe repairs, via your council, is a serious breach of road safety regulations. This is a formal complaint and warning in respect of your failures to comply with public major road safety requirements.

"We take pictures of all these pot holes as well as their depth and dimensions and volume calculations, including any evidence of previous temporary repairs.

"We are also now taking video footage of traffic swerving. This evidence will be presented in any future legal actions."

This week Mr Jameson approached the newspaper in a bid to get the problem solved. "No other local officials are interested," he claimed.

We forwarded photos of the potholes, together with the residents, complaints, to Buckinghamshire Council.

As a result, Steven Broadbent, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport told us: “Plane and patch works are scheduled to take place at this location shortly, in order to carry out longer lasting, permanent repairs to the road surface.

“Scheduling large scale repair works of this nature takes time to programme in, and certain treatments are weather dependent, so interim measures are often used in the meantime. These are only designed to be temporary however and so may appear less robust and durable.

“Following usual processes and timescales for tendering, we expect the works to start around the end of April/beginning of May. We will write to local residents and businesses once programme dates have been confirmed and advanced warning signs will be erected to give notification to motorists.

“Meanwhile we will continue to inspect the road and if any dangerous hazards appear we will repair them to keep the road safe pending these larger scale repairs.”