ON MAY 13, this year, on my way home from my work in Hartford by car, I was unfortunate to hit a very severe pothole on School Lane in Hartford, causing a huge tear in the side of my tyre, damaging the wheel, and scraping the paintwork below the front bumper.

I immediately pulled over and reported it to Cheshire West and Chester Highways Department, and then called to have my vehicle recovered to a dealership.

Within half an hour a young lad appeared from the council’s highways team to cordon off the pothole.

He told me he had been out a few days earlier to repair it (a fact borne out by the fresh bitumen in the middle, which had now opened up into a chasm visible beneath the surface).

It is clear that the initial repair was inadequate and had not been properly investigated.

I reported all the damage and extensive list of criteria that was demanded by the council, and supplied photographs of the pothole and the damage to my car, and waited.

I was then asked to provide all the exact same information to Zurich, the council’s insurers.

Multiple phone calls, complaints via social media and three months later I finally had a letter from Zurich rejecting my claim for damage which totals £404.

Is this what I pay my council tax for?

Jon Ranwell Sandbach