SHREDDED tyres are becoming an all too common experience for Annan’s motorists – with at least two a day suffering pothole damage.
Tyre dealers locally say they have have been inundated with punctured tyres and cracked wheels in recent months, caused by craters in the town’s roads.
Ian Hamilton, from Express Tyres, this week said: “We get one or two cars with pothole damage on most days, and it’s not just punctures, the tyres are shredded and ripped.”
Scott Irving, from DM Tyres, added: “In mid February we saw 14 people in one day with pothole damage!
“Now we see about one a day. It was after that period of frosty weather. All the roads have been broken up, that’s why it has been as bad.”
Annan resident Jack Thomson is one of the latest to have an encounter with a pothole.
His travel plans were halted before he could make it out of the town on Wednesday morning when the car he was travelling in hit a large hole just past Howes Scaur heading for the A75.
He said: “It broke the front wheel and ruined the tyres on the left hand side.
“It was like a gun going off. If anyone on a motorbike hit that, they would be dead.”
Another resident also spoke of his frustrations with a crater near his home on Winterhope Road, saying: “I reported it last week. They (the council) came back with an email saying they would send somebody by April 4.
“They’re using low grade stuff to repair them.”
Meanwhile, one pothole reappeared on the High Street this week only two months after being patched by Dumfries and Galloway Council – with cobbles and wires once again visible underneath.
Onlookers say it was just 71 days since it was first fixed and expressed concerns over the standard of repairs.
In January Dumfries and Galloway Council said that roads service would be accelerating forward £800k of funding to maintain the momentum of a project specifically to address potholes in the region.
And more than £30m has been dedicated to maintaining and fixing roads over the next five years.
Most recently, Annan drivers will have noticed the smooth tarmac at Scott’s Street roundabout after resurfacing work was completed there.
