'Bonkers' Hucknall road repair leaves large pothole still in the middle of busy street

Coronation Road had been dubbed the ‘worst street in Nottinghamshire’ by Coun John Wilmott (Ash Ind) as he focused his efforts on fixing Hucknall’s broken roads and pavements.

After a campaign lasting years, the county council finally came out recently to do the job – however, they left what Coun Wilmott has dubbed ‘Hucknall’s pot-hole in the middle’.

After the road team had left, Coun Wilmott, who represents Hucknall North at County Hall, was contacted by a resident on Coronation Road, complaining about a pothole left after thousands of pounds had been spent resurfacing much of the road.

The resident's complaint was ‘how was it possible the council missed this large hole in the road after resurfacing took place?’

This is the second time in a month that the county council has been called out for poor work on Hucknall’s roads after Coun Wilmott’s Independents colleague Coun Lee Waters pulled up the authority on a ‘pig’s ear job’ done on Brookside.

Coun Wilmott said: “After working with residents to sort out resurfacing works, I was flabbergasted that sub-contractors, employed by the county council, resurfaced part of the road but did it around a pothole.

"I honestly couldn’t answer how this has happened, it’s bonkers.

"Last month, when we tried to turbocharge fixing the broken the broken and roads, the ruling Conservatives at the council voted against it.

“You’ve all heard of piggy in the middle, will this is pothole in the middle.

"It’s Hucknall’s pothole island, it’s potty and I’ve got to admit, I was embarrassed by the whole thing.

"I am a man of few words but even I couldn’t explain this.

"I have asked the county council to revisit the road.”

Gary Wood, head of highways and transport at the council, said: “We carried out a significant amount of structural patching on Coronation Road in November 2021, making improvements to more than 600 sqm of the road.

“These works were to repair areas where the road surface had deteriorated significantly, with micro asphalt treatment planned to improve the road surface even further in the future.

“The pothole highlighted by Coun Willmott has developed relatively quickly during the four months since the works took place and was not there when our teams made the improvements.

“We will send an inspector to the site to check the defect and make any repairs as required and residents on Coronation Road can look forward to a further improved surface in a future programme.”