RETIRED teacher Bridget Green is appealing to other motorists whose cars were damaged after hitting a pothole on the A360 near Potterne to contact her after she was given the brush-off from Wiltshire County Council.

Miss Green, from Littleton Panell, is claiming £200 compensation for a replacement wheel and tyre on her Peugeot 106 after she hit the massive pothole close to the tight bend at Potterne Wick in December.

She said: "The road is very narrow there and I was more concerned with oncoming traffic than looking out for huge holes in the road.

"There was an enormous bump when I hit the hole and the tyre deflated. I stopped as soon as it was safe to do so and phoned Fussell Wadman, who service my car, to come and collect it.

"While I was stood there, four other people came up to me and told me they had had a similar experience. I spoke to one woman who was about to undergo an elective Caesarian operation and who had gone through exactly my experience, which must have been horrible for her."

But Miss Green, who taught at Dauntsey's School in West Lavington for 17 years, was in for a bigger shock.

She wrote to Wiltshire County Council, claiming compensation for the damage to her car, but received a reply last week in which the council denied all responsibility.

Judy Neville, the council's insurance and risk manager, wrote: "In essence, the issue revolves around whether the county council knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that a defect existed."

Mrs Neville said the A360 was inspected at regular intervals and was last looked at on November 19, two weeks before the incident, when no defects in the road surface were identified. But she did admit that reports from 11 motorists about the pothole had been received by the county council's roads helpline Clarence on the day of Miss Green's incident.

Miss Green is not prepared to let it rest there. She said: "Holes the size of that one don't develop overnight. It was huge. That stretch of road is particularly bad. As soon as they fill the holes in, they open up again.

"The whole road needs fixing and the county council cannot deny responsibility for damage to cars when the surface is left in such a terrible state."

Miss Green would be grateful to hear from any other motorists who have suffered damage from that pothole, which was filled in shortly after the incident and was due to receive a more permanent repair on Sunday.

A spokesman for the county council said on Friday: "A permanent repair is due to be carried out at this location. We expect work to begin at the weekend to replace a section of road surface which has failed.

"In addition, a programme of major maintenance works beginning in April includes two schemes to further improve the A360 Potterne to Black Dog Crossroads and Black Dog Crossroads to Littleton Panell."

Miss Green can be contacted on (01380) 812612.