Damage fear as large pothole appears during Oswestry A5 roadworks
Motorists have been left up in arms by a large pothole on the A5 near Oswestry caused by long standing road improvements.
Work began to widen the A5 to the north and southbound approaches of the Gledrid roundabout near Oswestry back in January, and are due to run until the end of this month.
The road has been closed overnight and at times has caused chaos and long tailbacks for motorists.
Fears were raised regarding hold-ups and diverted traffic through nearby villages in January, that would be caused from the £700,000 road improvements.
Now a large pothole in the road that has opened up as motorists head off the roundabout, south towards Oswestry has been a cause for concern among drivers.
Sam Goddard, a sales representative at Arthurs in Oswestry, said the state of the road is a joke.
He said: "It is a bit of a joke really. I've got a 4x4 but I went over the one at Gledrid coming from Chester and and I could still hear a massive whack on my car when I went over it.
"That was in a 4x4 but other cars it would cause more damage to.
"They've spent so much money to try and improve the road around there, and this is a simple part that has been dug across the road that just needs filling in, it's disgusting really.
"For some road users, who don't know the area it could be quite unexpected.
"The work has been going on for almost six months now, so people just want it sorted out.
Another motorist, Craig Southern, also from Oswestry, said his new car was almost damaged despite approaching the pothole at 30mph, and said a feeble attempt has been made to repair the damage to the road.
Craig added: "They are terrible, they are deep enough to cause damage to springs, wheels and tyres.
"They have made a feeble attempt to create two raised patricians for your tyres to go across.
"It looks like they have measured the width of a lorry not a regular car. My new car made a hell of a racket going over it and I was only doing 30mph, it is ridiculous."
A spokesperson for Highways England thanked readers for flagging up the issue and ensured repairs will be made.
"We would like to thank the readers of the Shropshire Star for bringing this to our attention," said the spokesman.
"Safety is our top priority and our contractors will look into the matter and ensure any repairs are carried out where necessary."
