Goostrey residents incensed over dangers posed by hazardous potholes

Residents are fed up complaining about the dangers posed to drivers and cyclists on Hermitage Lane.

The stretch from Main Road via Twemlow Lane to Holmes Chapel is used by cyclists, pedestrians and dog walkers.

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Villagers say potholes are posing hazards for drivers and cyclists (Image: John Williams)

Villagers say that deep potholes on roads including Blackden Lane have taken out the tyres of vehicles.

One resident said: "Goostrey is suffering from the lack of road maintenance.

“Local authorities blame the Government but they have been given funding to do road repairs.

Villagers say vehicles have been damaged by deep potholes (Image: John Williams)

"Hermitage Lane is particularly bad and it is best to avoid going along Church Bank, Blackden Lane via Peover Hall to Knutsford and past Jodrell Bank for Chelford.

“The route is full of potholes and hazards for drivers and cyclists.”

He said homes are shaking from the vibrations caused by heavy vehicles.

Villagers say the roads look like a battlefield scarred by shell holes during the First World War (Image: John Williams)

The man added: “I spoke to a Cheshire East highways worker inspecting Blackden Lane who said the only way to get anything done is to keep complaining.

“He said the council has set up a hotline to deal with pothole claims there have been so many.

"Last week one of the deepest potholes in the lane blew the tyre and damaged the wheel of a car owned by a resident.”

Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chairman of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said: “The issue of potholes is not unique to Cheshire East.

“They’re worse at this time of the year, as we come out of winter.

“We absolutely understand the frustration that they can cause and we’re working hard to tackle the increase of them in our borough.

“We’re committed to keeping our roads safe and we’re using our limited budgets in the best possible way.

“The increase in potholes at this time of year means we may not be able to respond to defects as quickly as we’d like, but we’ve increased the number of teams working to carry out pothole and patching repairs.

“Our aim is to carry out permanent repairs on road defects, but sometimes that is not possible and so some of the repairs we make are temporary to make sure that the road is safe.

“In the case of Hermitage Lane and Blackden Lane, Goostrey, we continue to inspect the roads in line with our code of practice and have recently carried out pothole repairs where defects have been identified.”