Pothole in Bashley Cross Road near Ferndene Farm Shop damaged at least six cars in one night

A WOMAN who drove through a pothole which caused £300 worth of damage to her car watched in horror as at least six other vehicles then fell victim to it.

Gita Holborn was driving along Bashley Cross Road just past Ferndene Farm Shop when her vehicle ploughed into the huge hole.

This week it was revealed that reports of potholes and damage they caused hit five-year highs, according to local governments and the AA.

The AA estimates they may have cost UK drivers as much as £500m in repairs.

Gita had been taking her 89-year-old friend back home to Barton from seeing her husband on his birthday in a care home in Sway when the incident happened.

Gita said: “The pothole was full of water so at first it looked like a puddle. It was also beginning to get dark as it was about 3.30pm. There was this almighty bang as my car hit the pothole and I realised at once it had been badly damaged.

“I managed to steer the car to the side of the road.

“I got out and saw that one tyre was flat and realised another one had also been damaged. I put on my hazards and was sitting there wondering what to do when I heard another bang and realised a car had run into the pothole again.”

Gita is a member of the AA so rang the service telling them she had a “frail elderly lady” with her but she was still left for three hours stuck at the side of the road. In that time Gita said she counted around six other cars hitting the hole.

She said: “It was dark, but I could hear them come down the road, then there would be this bang and they would be stuck like me. At one stage there was a line of us at the side of the road with our hazards flashing, it was mad.”

Gita said her friend began to “get very cold and upset” adding: “It was a very bitter night. I had nothing in the car to put round her and was really worried about her. I rang the AA again but they just told me that if I was “worried about her” I should dial 999 and get an ambulance.

“I did not want to do that as she did not want to go to hospital, and I did not think it warranted getting an ambulance when you hear about how overworked they are.”

A good Samaritan finally came to Gita’s aid, helping her with her car and also offering to take her friend home. She said: “He was absolutely lovely. All I know is that his name was Ben, and he had a pick-up truck. He was trying to help as many people as he could.

“He ended up running me and my friend to her home so I could make sure she was okay before I returned to my car.

“The AA eventually turned up around 6.30pm. The AA man dealt with me then left, even though the person behind me was also with the AA and was waiting for them to. He said another AA man would come along for them. I thought that was stupid and quite dangerous to leave a car on the road when he could have sorted it.

“It was quite unbelievable that one pothole could wreak so much damage.”

Gita had to pay out £300 to have two tyres replaced after the incident in December. She has complained to the AA about the delay and also to the council about the pothole.

In a statement Hampshire County Council said: “We can confirm that this particular pothole was reported to us online, and we carried out an emergency repair to make it safe.

“Our Highways teams are continuing to respond to high numbers of reported road issues following Storm Henk. Potholes and any other road defects can be reported to us online and once received, they are assessed and prioritised for repair as soon as possible.

“In July, the county council confirmed that an additional £22.5 million would be allocated over three years for reactive road repairs through to 2025 to help address the increased demand from weather related impacts and also rising costs.”

A spokesperson for the AA said it had received the call from Ms Holborn just after 4pm and was with her by 4.30pm.

Her car could not be repaired and needed a mobile tyre fitter which she organised

The spokesperson said the AA men stayed with her until just after 5pm, and there was not an older lady with Ms Holborn when they got there.

They said the advice to ring 999 if concerned about someone with you becoming ill "is standard advice."

The spokesperson added: "We did nothing wrong in these circumstances. The AA person was promptly on scene and stayed with the lady until after 5pm.

"They then had to go to other calls. We believe we did all we should have done in this incident and could not have done more."

In response, Gina said: “I told the AA from the beginning that I had an electric automatic car with two punctures and no spare tyre, so they should have known to take me ASAP to a tyre place instead of deciding to contact a mobile tyre place who came all the way from Southampton.”