SEVERAL motorists have had their vehicles damaged by potholes along a "dangerously broken" village lane near Ross-on-Wye.

The condition of Gatsford Lane in Brampton Abbotts is now “beyond a joke” according to one of the many people who have reported the issue to Herefordshire Council over the last month.

There are dozens of reports of potholes on the council’s website and on Fix My Street, a website that allows residents to report local street issues with several reports of vehicles being damaged.

One person described the potholes as “the worst I have ever seen”, while another said the road had a “dangerously broken surface”.

“This pothole has been present for a couple of months and is worsening,” another person said. “My sister-in-law has already damaged three tyres.”

“This stretch of Gatsford Lane in Brampton is full of potholes,” another said. “There are a number of large, deep potholes at this point on the road. They are deep enough to significantly damage tyres and suspension.

“Drivers now have to drop to a crawl to navigate around the potholes."

One of the dozens of motorists to report the problem said the situation is “beyond a joke now”.

“This is an urgent case of multiple holes worsening and worsening,” they said. “I brace each time I pass by heading in direction of village - waiting for the clunk!

“Heading in the other direction you’re forced to either practically mount the hedge or put yourself in the way of potential cars coming in the opposite direction towards you.

“And I drive the smallest, narrowest, lightest car. It looks like it needs five to ten metres of surface replacement as opposed to pothole filling.”

Bev Brandon, who lives in the village, said the potholes are getting worse and worse.

“I’ve already suffered a cut to my tyre as well as numerous other people. It’s a really big problem.”

Leader of Herefordshire Council Jonathan Lester said recently that his Conservative-led administration is making “record levels of investment” in roads, and the following approval of the county’s budget for the coming financial year.

He added: “I look forward to much more road resurfacing, which I’m sure residents will be very pleased with.”

A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said of the problem in Brampton Abbotts is being investigated and added: “We can confirm that this issue has been reported to the Council by local residents through the appropriate channels and we would like to thank them for doing this.

As a consequence, we have taken action and the site has been inspected and a number of defects have been identified.

“Our team have been on site this morning, Tuesday February 24, to make these defects safe.”

Cllr Barry Durkin, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet member for roads and regulatory services at, said: “Over the last twelve months we have redoubled our efforts to fix defects on our network as and when they are reported to us.

“Whilst repairing potholes forms part of our routine maintenance programme, we have also invested over £11million in the last year to resurface our very worst roads and surface dress those that are at risk of significant deterioration in the short to medium term.”