A hospital chef from Kingskerswell has demanded compensation from Devon County Council after his car wheel was trashed driving over a pothole estimated to be six inches deep.
James Hartley, 24, of Old Newton Road was driving along the A381 Totnes Road on Monday evening when the incident happened.
'I was dropping a friend back to Ipplepen at 6.30pm and was going round the bend at Baker's Park and I heard a massive bang. I looked in the mirror and saw a huge pothole. The tyre has been pushed off its rim and the wheel has buckled. It's totally written off.'
He had bought the VW Bento second hand five days earlier, had it MOT'd and had four brand new tyres fitted, costing £80 each.
'I was very peeved to say the least. The road is in an appalling condition.'
Next morning, James' father John Hartley went to photograph the pothole, to find another motorist also there with his camera, having damaged his van on the same pothole.
'While we were there a gent in a silver Suburu had also just done it and walked back to see that it was,' Mr Hartley said.
The row of wheel covers by the side of the road tell their own story.
MDA reporter and motoring correspondent Nigel Canham damaged the wheel cover of his Citroen Picasso on the pothole and says he was lucky not to lose the tyre. He estimates the hole is a good six inches deep and one foot across.
'It's particularly dangerous because of the double white lines and the narrowness of the road. It is often impossible to avoid it because there is no space to pull out.'
A county spokesman said that the recent spell of cold weather was responsible for the deterioration of road surfaces, believed to be at its fastest rate for more than 20 years.
Three road gangs are currently repairing potholes in Newton Abbot as soon as they are reported but the highways authority expects the problem to continue as cold weather has been forecast for another week.
'We received a report of this pothole on Monday. Warning signs were put out on Monday afternoon to advise motorists of its existence. The pothole was permanently repaired early on Tuesday afternoon,' she said.