Fury for parent after 10-year-old boy is thrown off bike and injured after hitting pothole in Market Drayton

The 43-year-old said he warned the council that the potholes could potentially cause significant damage to a vehicle or cause someone to sustain an injury.

And so, there is deep frustration after his 10-year-old son Jacob returned from a bike ride - aided by a local who was pushing his bike - injured and "shook" after he hit a pothole and was thrown into the middle of the road.

Jacob regularly rides his bike to and from Stoke-on-Tern Primary School and when his family takes their dog for a walk - and the 10-year-old's dad described him as a "confident rider".

During the incident, Jacob was moving to the side of the road to get out of the way of an approaching vehicle and was forced to go through what he thought was a puddle.

But, it was in fact a deep pothole that had filled with water.

The 10-year-old injured his hands, wrists, elbows, cheek and leg, and Jacob hasn't ridden his bike since.

His dad, Rob, said: "I was worried because he was holding his wrist and it was quite swollen. Jacob doesn't cry very often, but he was upset and in tears.

"He showed me his injuries, his t-shirt was covered in mud, and his bike is dowsed in mud. Luckily he was wearing his helmet.

"It’s happened to my son but it could have been anybody’s child. It could have been a lot worse.

"I know these things happen but I spoke to the council back in January about it and outlined that with all the water we have had, they are disguising the potholes as puddles, and said that someone could damage their car or get nastily injured.

"I put that in a report on FixMyStreet as advised and their response was to say that they knew about it and that it was scheduled in. I spoke to other neighbours who have reported it and had the same response.

"It is a small country lane and there are a lot of agricultural vehicles that go down it, and that is fine because they have got to, but the roads are getting damaged and being left to deteriorate even more."

Rob said his son still has scabs, marks and nasty bruises, and since reporting the pothole again, he claims more white paint has been sprayed around it.

The North Shropshire resident added that he too has had a bad experience due to potholes in the last couple of years.

The 43-year-old said he had to fork out more than £400 for repairs to his car after a coil spring snapped due to him hitting one.

"I do think country roads get ignored," he continued. "Not just that, but the smaller towns on the whole. If you drive around Market Drayton then the roads are atrocious.

"Whereas if you go around Shrewsbury they resurface a whole road there because I consider it as the council's showpiece. But, towns like Market Drayton who probably don't pull in as much are left to be neglected.

"When they do fix them, they do a small patch and not even the full thing, and they don't last. Rather than fixing it properly the first time around, they don't and don't even fill the whole pothole sometimes.

"There are loads, there are a few which they have had patched each time, but since I have been in touch they have put more paint around the potholes again. But, they do this, they mark them out and then don't come back and it is a bit of a standing joke that they are going to keep filling it up with paint and eventually that will fit it.

"It is most frustrating that we have reported it and outlined in black and white that this could cause an injury and then it has happened."

The pothole is one of many on the region's ravaged roads. Each day this week, the Shropshire Star is putting a spotlight on the impact of potholes in different areas of the county.

Parish Councillor Richard Wright says the main road through the village "takes a battering" from heavy traffic.

He said: "It shouldn't happen, you are trying to encourage children to ride bikes to and from school or as often as possible.

"Sometimes you report them on FixMyStreet and the reaction is mixed, sometimes they come to them quite quickly, put white lines around them, while sometimes nothing happens.

"They take a long time to be fixed and quite often they are highlighted but only after a period of time."

A Shropshire Council spokesperson said: "We inspect all reported potholes and risk assess them to prioritise their repair. They’ll either be classed as urgent or will be put into a planned programme of works to ensure that they're repaired as efficiently as possible."