Bury St Edmunds resident who spent nearly £2K repairing car damaged on Station Hill says resurfacing should have happened sooner

A resident who spent nearly £2,000 repairing their car which was damaged on a pothole-riddled road has welcomed upcoming resurfacing but says the work was long overdue.

Oliver Phillips hit a pothole twice on Station Hill, Bury St Edmunds, last year, resulting in a flat tyre and broken wheel on both occasions and expressed his frustration at the state of the route which he uses daily.

Last week, Suffolk Highways confirmed resurfacing work on the road, which will be closed from the junction with Out Northgate to the roundabout on Tayfen Road for five nights from Monday.

However, Oliver feels the road, which has previously been closed for pothole repairs, should have been resurfaced sooner.

“The road is difficult to drive on,” he said.

“You have to swerve to avoid massive craters, which is not only dangerous but sometimes impossible to do.

“I’m pleased the road is being fixed, but it has been in a terrible condition for years.

“It should have been prioritised sooner as it’s a major road in a newly developed area.

“If you think about all the people arriving by the train or from the A14, Station Hill creates a bad first impression of our town.”

After he hit the pothole, Oliver visited a local garage but was told he needed to go to a Tesla garage in Norwich due to the severity of the damage and because they did not have the necessary parts.

The dad-of-two said that although he tries his best to avoid the potholes on Station Hill, it's not always possible as it feels like new ones appear ‘overnight’.

The 40-year-old, who works as a mental health social worker at West Suffolk Hospital, said he had to take time off work to pick up his car from Norwich and was late to work the second time it happened.

He said his children were also late to school and described the situation as a ‘nightmare.

“I work with vulnerable people so a lot of people are relying on me to show up on time,” he added. “I missed most of the morning as I was stranded.

“I started to think this was a common thing with Tesla wheels, but the guys in Norwich said they rarely see someone come in with two cracked wheels.”

Diane Hind, town mayor, had previously described the road as a ‘patchwork quilt’ of defects and repairs.

She had raised hers and residents' concerns over the state of the road with Highways more than once, but said that, up until now, it had ‘fallen on deaf ears’.

Similarly to Oliver, she said the repairs were long overdue, but she was pleased to hear the road was due for a full resurface. However, she said key entry routes into Bury should be in better condition.

“I think it does give a very poor impression because for some people that is the entrance to the town,” she added.

“But wouldn’t it be lovely if all the roads were smooth and well maintained?”