An Angus driver says he is being forced to replace two tyres after his car hit a 7ft pothole.
Stuart Pirie, 51, from Craichie – south-east of Forfar – was left with the damage on his Mercedes after driving on the B9128 on Sunday.
The pet shop owner says he had no choice but to drive over the pothole – which was 3ft wide – to avoid colliding with other vehicles coming the other way.
He believes it is only a matter of time before the broken road surface causes a bad crash, and claims other drivers have reported similar issues on that stretch of road.
Stuart said: “I was aware there had been a pothole in that spot – there are potholes all along that stretch.
“It had been filled in but now it’s back worse than ever.
“I was driving along when I was on it before I knew about it and there were two cars coming the other direction.
“I had to go through the pothole to avoid colliding with the other cars.
“I knew straight away that my car was damaged. To begin with I thought it was only one tyre but when I got out to look I was horrified to discover that two were damaged.
“This is going to cost me several hundred pounds to fix.”
Earlier this year, a crash investigator said the number of potholes in Angus posed a “serious risk” of fatal incidents.
Stuart, who has complained to the local authority, has described the condition of Angus roads as “awful”.
‘It’s time the council took responsibility’
He said: “It’s time the council took responsibility and took action before a serious accident happens because of these potholes.
“I actually measured the pothole I hit. I was shocked to see it measured about 3ft wide, 7ft long and around 4in deep.
“I was able to nurse the car back home but the damage is pretty extensive and will be expensive to fix.”
An Angus Council spokesman said: “We are aware of a deep pothole near to Craichie, on the road towards Forfar.
“Our roads team have been despatched to attend to it today.
“We encourage people to tell us about potholes and other road issues to us via our online reporting system.”
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