South Shields residents' anger over '˜dangerous' potholes

They allege lanes into and around Parkway, off Harton Lane, South Shields, have become so dangerous their cars are being damaged as their drive to and from their doors.

Their complaints focus on the general state of the surface, which they say is rapidly decaying, and the emergence of potholes.

Householders insist these have worsened since the start of the year, due largely to the bad-weather winter which brought heavy snows to the borough.

Grandmother Heather Curry, 58, said the issues had been raised with South Tyneside Council, but nothing had been done.

Council chiefs confirmed some repairs had been carried out but warned no further improvements were likely until next year.

Mrs Curry, a mum-of-two, of Lane Corner, one of Parkway’s streets, said: “I’ve lived here for 13 years and there has been no proper resurfacing done in that time.

“It has got worse and worse over the years, to the point where the poor winter we had has made things even worse. I know of residents who say their vehicle has been damaged by the road, including parts of the chipped surface flying up and hitting them.

“There’s a lot of people around here concerned about this, the roads really are in a shocking state.”

She added: “It make you wonder what your road tax and council tax is being used for, because it certainly doesn’t seem to be for these streets.

“Someone from the council did come along a while back with some tar for some potholes – it lasted about two days before it had come up.

“We are also concerned about what the state of the roads is doing for house prices. I know that if I came here to have a look at a property, seeing the roads would put me off straight away.”

Streets on the estate also include Bankside Lane, Awnless Court and Browntop Place.

South Tyneside Council said potholes are categorised according to their severity with those in most urgent need of repair a priority.

A spokesman added: “We received an initial report of potholes in this particular area on 28 March and a repair was subsequently carried out on 12 April.

“The extreme weather from earlier in the year has unfortunately damaged many road surfaces and left us with an unusually high number of potholes to fill.

“However, we are maintaining our repair programme in line with government guidelines, with this road being considered for resurfacing work next year.”