THE B4293 near Monmouth was strewn with incapacitated vehicles around 5pm on Monday (25th September) afternoon as car after car hit a large pothole.

Within the space of an hour around at least seven cars were left with blown tyres after hitting the pothole in the northbound lane.

Traffic was slowed as a line of damaged cars began to form, with more and more cars adding to the total before police arrived to block the lane.

For many of the drivers the damage was more than just a blown tyre.

Angela Pringle said: “Unfortunately the damage to our car is much worse than we thought. Two wheels and suspension damage.”

In no consolation to the drivers, the pothole had been reported earlier in the day but Welsh Water were unable to respond. 

Monmouthshire County Council Head of Operations, Roger Hoggins said: “The dangerous pothole was caused by a leak on a water main. It was reported to Monmouthshire County Council on the morning of Monday 25th September, the information was passed immediately to Welsh Water to attend at 11am.

“Unfortunately Welsh Water were unable to respond during the day. Following reports of damage to vehicles later in the day Monmouthshire County Council attended the scene and secured signage and temporary lights to make the road safe for road users.

“We have received complaints from motorists of damage to their vehicles and have advised them to direct their enquiries to Welsh Water.

“We believe Welsh Water are making arrangements to repair the leak and carry out reinstatement to the road. We do not have a timescale for the repair and reinstatement but we would expect Welsh Water to treat this as a matter of urgency.”