Comberbach 'Twinned with Pothole' sign highlights ‘woeful’ repairs

Residents say recent patching jobs on Gibb Hill, Marbury Road, and Cogshall Lane, have not only failed to fix the potholes, but have actually made them worse.

An amusing sign, describing the village as being 'Twinned with Pothole', has been erected to highlight the state of the roads in the area.

Marbury resident, Marc Bryam, says his friend from Wigan recently burst a tyre when he hit a pothole near Home Farm, on Marbury Road, on his way home from a visit. 

"It took his tyre out instantly," Marc said. "He had to wait eight hours for recovery."

Cheshire West and Chester Council say they have a ‘right first-time approach’ to pothole repairs, but admit recent work carried out by one of their contractors on Gibb Hill was 'not completed to the required specification'.

Marc says the council have marked up more than 50 defects on Marbury Road between Anderton and Comberbach, but added the smaller ones are being ignored, which he says is 'council policy'.   

Marbury resident Marc Byram described the roads in Comberbach as 'like the Wild West' (Image: Marc Byram)

The Marbury resident, who has to drive through Comberbach every day, said: “It’s like the Wild West. Honestly, you can’t drive in a straight line.

“The council have ringed and numbered at least 50 grids and potholes between Anderton and Comberbach.

“But any under four centimetres deep haven’t been touched at all. That's their policy. 

“There’s been some patching, but it looks like it’s been done by a three-year-old. It’s just woeful.

“The sharp edges where they've been cut out have been left exposed and have now crumbled. They’ve actually made it worse.

“I don’t understand it, or why they do it this way. It just seems like such a massive waste of money.

A pothole on Marbury Road took out Marc's visitor's tyre 'instantly' (Image: Marc Byram)

“Car repairs have gone up more than 20 per cent in the last few years.

“It actually makes me dread going out. I just know one night, I’ll be driving home in the dark, not see one, and hit it.

“A tyre for my car is about £300 and a rim is £1,000. Suspension work would be in the thousands.”

Comberbach resident, Steve Brooks, said: “It’s the most disgusting waste of time and money I’ve ever seen.

“Cogshall Lane is in a right state. It’s an appalling mess.

“It’s just a money tree for the council’s appointed contracting companies.

“I think we’d all be stunned if someone uncovered the amount of money being wasted.”

CWAC have blamed ‘extremely unprecedented adverse weather’ for the state of the roads in Comberbach, and say councils in other areas are having to deal with the same problem.

CWAC say they'll be resurfacing Marbury Road in Comberbach village next month (Image: Marc Byram)

They have confirmed, however, the section of Marbury Road in Comberbach village itself we be resurfaced ‘kerb to kerb’ next month.

CWAC’s deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, transport and highways, Cllr Karen Shore, said: “The council’s highways service takes a right first-time approach to pothole repairs.

“Recent patching works on Gibb Hill were not completed to our required specification, so our contractor is currently investigating the matter and will be planning works to remedy this.

"Between January and March there is an increased spike in potholes when water makes its way into cracks, freezes, and then expands causing the road surface to crack.

“Like all councils, we are experiencing a high volume of road defects, further impacted by the extremely unprecedented adverse weather in recent months which has caused flooding across the UK.

“As well as reactive defect repairs, we also have a planned improvement scheme which includes full resurfacing works for Marbury Road through the village beginning on March 14.

“More than 4,000 square metres of carriageway will be completely resurfaced, kerb to kerb.

“For the remainder of Marbury Road towards Anderton we also have planned enhanced patching works, which will vastly improve the condition of over 2.3km of road in this location alone.

“This planned patching will use an innovative piece of plant called a Hydrohog, which utilises hydrogen in the fuel mix to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with the works.”