Andy Patterson, founder of Automotive Repair Systems in Orpington, says Shire Lane, where his business is located, needs urgent repair as the road is riddled with potholes.
Due to the narrow nature of the road, drivers are forced to hit the potholes, forcing them to go to Andy’s repair shop.
“It’s riddled with potholes.
“We had three people come in one day where they’ve driven over the road at 40 miles per hour.
“Drivers can’t move over them or around them if cars is coming from the other direction because the road is quite narrow.
“So, you can’t move over or else you’d have to slam the brakes and do an emergency stop.
“You have no choice; you’re forced to hit the pothole.
“If you have a car with small wheels or low-profile tyres, you hit it at an absolute thud, and this has happened to people to the point that they’ve instantly got a puncture or damaged a wheel or two.”
Andy said that Bromley Council has acknowledged that there are about 30 holes in the road that need repair.
He said that his neighbours have received letters, informing them that Shire Lane will be closed overnight for two days.
Andy added: “It’s taken them almost three months to actually start doing something about it, and it’s costing motorists thousands of pounds.
“Most of the issues we’ve had in recent months come from Shire Lane.”
Out of goodwill, Andy and his workers are not charging those who come in due to the potholes on Shire Lane.
However, that itself has proved difficult for the company.
He said: “It’s certainly extra pressure because we’re not charging people to change their wheel.
“We’re doing that out of goodwill, and I think it’s wrong for us to charge somebody who is in distress.
“I think that should be just an honourable thing to do.
“I have a team of guys here for that, but it is impacting our business, doing all that free of charge.
“It’s still a 15-minute job, and then now we’ve done probably over 60 vehicles and this is quite costly, not only in just their time, but taking their time away from the work where they do receive money.”
The damage that drivers come in with include rim damage, which affects a vehicle’s stability and suspension damage.
Overall, Andy wants to see Shire Lane fixed for the safety of anybody using it.
He added: “They should, for the safety of the general public, have gone around a put a cone in all of those holes to mark out that there’s a danger.
“Maybe they should have a flashlight at night, so people have the option to be able to drive around it or slowdown in advance, but a lot of people are just being caught unaware and are hit hard with a heavy repair bill.
“There should be signage on the road, warning drivers to take care because of the potholes.”
Bromley Council referred us to its website, which says: “We are making progress to complete all outstanding problems on roads and pavements across the borough following the effects of the winter conditions, with an additional contractor supporting this work.
“The appointment of a second contractor on a temporary basis means that the problems of outstanding potholes and other road or pavement problems will be resolved in the coming months.
“In addition to the large number of reports from residents, motorists, cyclists and other road users, the council’s team of Highway Inspectors are also examining the condition of the highway on a daily basis.”
Councillor Nicholas Bennett, Executive Councillor for Transport, Highways and Road Safety, said, “Bromley is London’s largest borough with over 550 miles of road, equal to from Bromley to Zurich, with vehicles getting heavier and wider, roads all over the country are being more easily damaged.
“We have a planned programme of resurfacing roads as well as an active pothole repair process.
“Road safety is important, and we have made considerable progress in recent months to repair potholes as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“I want to thank road users and residents for reporting problems they come across so that we can act as needed.
“We are aware that there are a number of outstanding repairs needed in Shire Lane, which, given the width of the road, for safety reasons, the road will need to be closed to allow these repairs to take place.
“As local residents will already know, Shire Lane will be closed at night on both today, Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 March when all outstanding works will be complete.”
