Hereford doctor wins fight for pothole compensation

A Hereford man who suffered a late-night blowout from a pothole says he has had to fight all the way for compensation from Herefordshire Council.

Hospital anaesthetist Dr Thomas Burton said he was returning from a shift in Birmingham on the night of February 15 when his Volvo car hit the pothole on the A4103 at Newtown Cross.

“Other people were affected by the same pothole – you can see them stopping ahead of me in my dashcam footage,” he said.

“I then went back and forth with the council and their roads contractor Balfour Beatty – they said they were aware of the pothole and had scheduled its repair ‘within a reasonable time frame’ which they claimed was a valid defence.”

With no admission of liability forthcoming, he accessed the small claims court via the government’s Money Claim Online portal. When the council did not respond to this within the statutory two-week period, a default judgement was issued in Dr Burton’s favour.

Eventually, the council paid out £245 to Dr Burton, including £35 in court fees.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “This claim was rejected as the road defect in question had already been identified and was awaiting repair.

“Following an administrative error, the decision was made to pay the default judgement as it would have cost more to pursue the matter.

“Under normal circumstances, this claim is one that the council would have successfully defended.”