Cirencester News

Council knockback infuriates pensioner

By Laura Shack

10:00am Sunday 29th January 2012

A PENSIONER whose car suffered damages of £380 on a potholed road has had his compensation claim knocked back by Gloucestershire County Council.

A spring snapped in Roy Devine’s car when he jolted over a “big lump” on Lewis Lane by the crossroads with Querns Lane in September last year.

Thanks to a report by the Standard on the dangerous state of some of Cirencester’s roads, GCC is now carrying out resurfacing works on Lewis Lane.

But that news is little comfort to Roy, 68, from Stratton, who has already had to fork out for damages that he said were caused by the road.

“I was driving at less than 20 mph when I went over a big lump in the road” he said. “It made me jump out of my seat and it was only my seat belt that kept me in there.”

Roy was advised that he would need to replace both springs in his car if one had snapped and was quoted £380 by a car manufacturer for the work.

However, Roy is claiming just £51 from the council to cover the cost of one of the springs that his son was able to source and fit on his behalf.

“It doesn’t sound like much but £50 is a lot for me to shell out,” he said.

A GCC spokesman said compensation would only be awarded if the claimant was able to prove the damage resulted from the council’s failure to maintain the part of the highway where the incident occurred.

She added: “We operate a robust highway safety inspection regime which involves trained safety inspectors and processes for identifying safety defects and making repairs in a timely manner.”

When the Standard asked for a copy of inspections carried out on Lewis Lane in the month of September, the request was denied.

The GCC spokesman said: “It is not for us to prove that we have met our obligations, it is for the claimant to prove that we have not.”

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