A despairing Dalbeattie driver is considering legal action against the council after an alloy wheel on his BMW was wrecked by a pothole.
Publican Drew Geddes, who runs the Maxwell Arms in the town, suffered damage to his car in two incidents and has been left frustrated by the local authority’s response.
He said: “The first time was in January and I was on the Dalbeattie to Dumfries road near Kirkgunzeon on the A711 when I hit this huge pothole and cracked the alloy.
“There must be about 10 potholes on the road and people are complaining about them all the time.
“Then two or three weeks ago I was coming back from Glasgow with my family at night and on the B7020 at Templand I hit another and that’s when I got a burst tyre, broke the alloy and had to pull over and put foam in the tyre to try and get home.
“But that only lasted until 12 miles outside Dumfries so I called the AA. They eventually said they didn’t have a patrol in the area and would get a taxi then said I would have to get one myself. It was a nightmare.”
He added: “I eventually got my sister to give us a lift and we got home at about 3am.
“I have tried to get compensation from the council but nothing is happening and I am now thinking of getting a solicitor which will cost me more money.
“All four of my alloys are scratched and scuffed with hitting these potholes. It’s terrible.
“The council sent me an email saying they were aware of the problem and the first pothole was filled in so to my mind they are accepting responsibility but their insurance firm, Zurich, knocked me back and said they were not negligent. I think they are hoping I give up and go away but I am going to fight on.
“My car was off the road for 10 days because I could not get one alloy at first and was told I had to buy a set which would cost me £3,000. I had only got the car recently and this has taken the shine and enjoyment off it.
“Eventually I sourced one and it cost me £700 in total for a new tyre and alloy.”
An email from Zurich to Mr Geddes on April 11 stated: “We must advise you that there is no automatic right to compensation.
“Before any recompense can be made it will be necessary for you to demonstrate that there has been negligence on the part of our customer (the council).
“We have concluded our investigations into liability. Our customer’s duty is to ensure that the roads are maintained in a reasonably safe condition.
“They do not have to ensure that the roads are in a perfect condition at all times.
“The site of this accident (at Templand) is subject to inspections on a monthly basis by our customer’s employees and at the time of the last inspection, the defect was identified and scheduled for repair prior to the incident, which occurred within the repair timescales.
“Unfortunately, therefore, we deny liability on behalf of our customer.”
A council email to Mr Geddes also claimed the first incident, the Kirkgunzeon pothole, had been made safe in January.
A spokesman for the council said: “We regularly inspect roads, and where defects are identified, repair the defects within a set time depending on how they are classified.
“This funding includes an increase in operational staff across our region. This will ensure there is increased capacity for teams to carry out drainage improvements, repairs and maintenance.”
