Miserable motorists today demanded action to fix Britain’s longest pothole – which stretches for an incredible 200 FEET.
The crumbling crater covers the entire length of a city street and is 4ft wide and four inches deep in places.
But Gloucester City Council has so far refused to fix the road surface, claiming it cannot afford to plug the giant hole.
The pothole in King’s Barton Street deteriorated significantly after last December’s big freeze and is now causing residents to trip and fall.
Gloucester City councillor Pam Tracey said: ”It must be the longest pothole in Britain. It is about 4ft wide and about four inches deep in places and goes right down the street.
”The road is used as a bit of a rat run and it has just got worse and worse. There is just a mess of rubble and stones down one side of the road.
”Someone can easily twist their ankle when they step on it.
”It really is awful and I feel sorry for the residents there who have to live with it. It can’t be good for their cars either.
”I’m surprised it has been left to get that bad, it’s huge and it will be a big job to sort it all out.”
Sylvia Davis, 76, who has lived along the street for her entire life, claims the road is in the worst shape it has ever been in.
She said: ”It is very bad. I had a fall a little while back and had to use a trolley when I went out shopping – which got stuck in the pothole.
”Another lady fell on it and had her leg in plaster.
”It is pretty deep in places and the whole road looks really messy.
”We have been on at the council for years to fix it – but we are still waiting. I feel really sorry for all the car drivers who have to use the road.
”I should imagine the pothole is the worst in Britain.”
Paul Toleman, a highways campaigner in the city, said it was easily the biggest pothole he had ever come across.
He said: ”The condition is really dire. It has been like it for some time and it is causing the residents there a lot of trouble.
”I think it’s about time it was sorted out. They’re going to have to re-lay the entire road.
”It is easily the biggest pothole I’ve ever seen.”
Gloucestershire County Council has a £90million backlog of work on the region’s roads – nearly £30 million more than the national average of £63.5 million.
Cllr Stan Waddington, cabinet member for environment at the council, said work would be carried out on King’s Barton Street – but not until the next financial year.
He said: ”We are aware there is some damage to the road surface on King’s Barton Street in Gloucester, and Gloucestershire Highways has received calls about it.
”We are planning to carry out remedial work in this area early in the new financial year.
”I would ask residents to be patient with us as we are still dealing with the backlog of repairs resulting from the bad weather we experienced at the end of 2010.
”Our teams at Gloucestershire Highways are working very hard to inspect the network and keep it safe for residents, fixing the worst defects on the main roads first before moving on to the urban and rural areas.”
The council claimed it fixed around 90,000 potholes in 2010 alone – more than the previous three years combined.
It says its standard policy is that anything 30cm wide and 40mm deep is fixed within 24 hours.
After the freezing winter last year, the council had to deal with 860 compensation claims from people but only about five per cent were successful.
