Fuming local drivers slam 'diabolical' potholes as one road has 174 craters

Angry residents are warning drivers the potholes in their village will “break your vehicle, and your soul”.

They’ve even changed the welcome to Wrenbury-cum-Frith road sign, renaming it “Wrenbury-cum-pothole”. They say there are 174 craters in just one 200-metre section of road and say it is like the surface of the moon.

They claim cars are being wrecked by the “diabolical” condition of the tarmac. Motorists have been complaining about Station Road, which leads into the Cheshire village, for five years.

Resident Lauren Ridgway fumed: “It’s absolutely horrendous. It’s been going on for years. What started off as a couple of potholes here and there is just a massive stretch now. It’s like a third-world country, but I think third-world country roads would actually be better. We’ve got farm tracks that are in better condition than that road.

“We have to pay road tax, our cars have to be roadworthy, but yet our roads are not car-worthy. It’s diabolical. You used to be able to weave around them. You can’t even do that anymore because the potholes are joined up and they are quite deep.”

Rob Cooper, 42, who owns a garage in the village, has seen a big rise in tyre repairs. He said: “I’m doing no end in blowouts and tyres that have been pinched by potholes. It’s just endless.

The crumbling roads in the village Wrenbury-cum-Frith, Cheshire East

“I would normally do three or four tyres every couple of weeks. At the minute, I’m doing three or four tyres a day. It’s crazy, really. Everybody in the village is sick of it. We keep on getting fobbed off. Now they’re saying it will be done in April, I very much doubt it to be honest. You lose your faith in it.”

One wag has even put up a road sign saying: “This road may break your vehicle and your soul.” Rob said: “It’s a laugh, it’s just a joke. If you didn’t laugh about it you’d cry. Everybody is so annoyed, and I think it’s quite funny that somebody has made a sign.”

Another resident David Horton said because the surface was breaking up, HGVs using the route were “making the potholes bigger, wider and deeper”. Others have taken to social media to vent their fury.

One wrote: ”I travelled into Burma in 2005 and the roads there were better than this one.”

The sign which was erected saying ‘this road may break your vehicle and your soul’

People say the council haven’t fixed the holes in the roads for years and they are sick of it

Councillor Craig Browne, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said repairs will be done in April.

He said: “Naturally, we are fully aware of the condition of Station Road in Wrenbury and agree that it requires resurfacing. There will be a £600,000 scheme starting in April, which will significantly improve drainage to this location.

The road has been described as being ‘like the surface of the moon’ because it is riddled with craters

“The only alternative to waiting until April would be to resurface now at an additional cost of £65,000 only to have to do this again after the completion of the primary works. With our current budgetary constraints, this is simply not affordable.

“We apologise to residents and road users and would like to assure them that we are prioritising this work being carried out as safely and in as timely a way as possible.”