Potholes: Is this the worst road in Harborough?

Steve Crick with the pot hole that ruined his tyre on Meadow Street.
PICTURE: ANDREW CARPENTER NNL-180321-104254005 — Steve Crick with the pot hole that ruined his tyre on Meadow Street. PICTURE: ANDREW CARPENTER NNL-180321-104254005

It’s Meadow Street in Market Harborough, north of the town centre – a minefield of potholes all along, but especially nearer the junction with The Cresent.

“I had a puncture on Monday from the potholes on Meadow Street” said town resident Steven Crick.

“The whole lot of Meadow Street needs to be taken up and started afresh. The potholes are all the way along.

“The council leave ‘em and leave ‘em and leave ‘em until they’re great big holes.”

Many roads are a patchwork of repairs; many are “frayed” at the edges. But from what the Mail has seen, Meadow Street, with its random and very central potholes all along it, is downright dangerous.

“It’s got even worse this winter – since September” said local resident Margaret Ryan. “We’ve got holes everywhere.”

“They’ve been marked with paint by the council three times, and repaired once,” said Michelle Masters. “They’re now worse then ever.”

“They’re in the middle of the road, not just the edges” said Joyce Mulligan. “It’s disgusting; really bad.”

But the Mail has got good news for Meadow Street residents, after asking Leicestershire County Council for a response to the complaints.

Blake Pain, the county council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “We’ve had an increase in the number of enquiries about potholes as a result of the recent extreme weather conditions.

“We are working very hard to tackle potholes across the county with additional resources being deployed to help deal with the increased demand.

“We are aware of the potholes on Meadow Street in Market Harborough and are currently scheduled to repair them on Friday, March 23.”

He added: “Leicestershire has some of the best roads in the country, and our highways and transport service was the highest rated county council for road condition in the National Highways and Transport Network Public Satisfaction survey last year.”

Nationally, potholes caused £915 million worth of damage to vehicles in 2017, according to research by car servicing and repair company Kwik Fit.