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'Monster' potholes leaves driver furious
A motorist has hit out after he and seven others were left stranded by a 'monster' pothole.
Paul Dowton found himself stuck at the side of the road surrounded by fellow drivers changing tyres after hitting the pothole in Cambrian Way, Hemel Hempstead.
The 39-year-old floor layer said: "I would call it a bomb crater. It's a monster of a hole.
"There were seven people changing tyres with me."
Mr Dowton was driving along at around 6pm on Thursday, February 25, when he failed to see the pothole because it was filled with water and dark.
He has since measured the hole and it is 5ins deep, 28ins wide and 63ins long.
Mr Dowton, of Trevalga Way in Hemel Hempstead, was in his friend's BMW 530 at the time and he is looking at a 300 repair bill.
And because he had only one spare tyre, he needed to use a recovery service to get the car to his home.
"It's diabolical," he said.
"I've got a double puncture, front and rear tyres.
"I will be looking in the region of 300 for two tyres on this car.
"I've not had time to take the wheels off to know if the wheels are damaged.
"I think it's a disgrace."
Meanwhile, Brian Cox says the biggest pothole he has ever seen has appeared near his home in Wootton Drive in Grovehill.
The giant hole has formed near the mini roundabout at the junction of St Agnells Lane and Crawley Drive.
"I've been driving for 60 years and I have never seen one as deep as this," he said.
"If a motorcyclist hits that they are dead."
Highways chiefs have been inundated with pothole alerts following the worst winter in 30 years, with 5,500 reported in January.
Herts Highways says it is spending 400,000 a week working through the massive backlog.
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Weather for Hemel Hempstead
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
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