'We love volunteering at this stately home - but we had to quit after potholes wrecked our Jaguar'
A 'serial' volunteer at a National Trust site has decided to quit after potholes caused damage to his car and left him with an unaffordable bill.
Richard Saunders, 71, from Telford has volunteered with his wife, Maureen, at Benthall Hall near Broseley as a 'visitor experience volunteer' since two weeks before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But, he and his wife have decided to quit after he was forced to replace the tyres on his Jaguar car due to damage caused by potholes.
Richard claims himself, the National Trust site, and visitors have reported potholes on 'the Avenue' - which leads to Benthall Hall from Benthall Lane - to Shropshire Council several times, and that inspectors have accessed the road, but that nothing has been done.
The ex-site manager for a crane company took his car for its MOT last weekend and was told he had significant pothole damage on two tyres and a buckled wheel.
And, due to the costs, Richard - who calls himself a 'serial volunteer' - and his wife have quit their volunteering at the National Trust site until the potholes are fixed.
"I had a look at the Jaguar site and the wheel is over £1,000," said the volunteer. "Tyres aren’t cheap these days either, so I had to tell them until the potholes are fixed, I can’t afford to come.
"Since we’ve been going, the potholes have gradually been getting worse over the last 18 months. Somebody came out and got all of the potholes marked out but then they did absolutely nothing at all about them.
"The house has reported them, the visitors report them. It is a big visitor attraction, we get between 150 and 200 people on a good day and about 60 and 100 on a poor day.
"They were quite upset when I said that I would have to stop. I said it’s nothing personal, I just can’t afford it. It’s beyond a joke.
"I’ve had to put budget tyres on which are about £130 each. The good ones are £300 and being the poor peasant and retired it’s an additional expense that they don’t seem to care about.
"I told them as soon as they are fixed, give me a ring and I’ll be back."
The retired 71-year-old has previously volunteered at Attingham Park and Chirk Castle, and continues to work voluntarily where he can.
Richard volunteered for 14 days in a row around the Easter Holidays, and it's something that he and his wife enjoy very much.
He said: "It’s one of those things that we do together and it's lovely because you meet lots of interesting like-minded people from every walk of life and there's a sense of camaraderie amongst the volunteers as well."
A Shropshire Council spokesperson said: "We’re aware of the potholes and other defects on The Avenue and have asked our contractor to repair these as soon as possible."
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