Dear LPG,

I suppose that I should count myself as one of the more fortunate elders because I still own and regularly drive my little car.  While I know that ours isn’t the only borough affected, I often wonder if I am the only person who has noticed all of the roadworks that are evident as we move from one Lewisham Street to another.  It appears that the powers that be spend their time employing people to botch each of these holes as they get deeper, leaving us with really grubby looking roads and car tyres and shock absorbers that need changing more often than should be necessary.

There is also the problem of the endless lengths of our streets which are closed or restricted with temporary automatic traffic signals.  They force us to wait around with our cars idling away using extensive quantities of fuel while our time is also wasted into the bargain.  I understand that gas, water and electricity pipes need to be laid or repaired every now and then, and that repairs take time, but I cannot understand why more of the repairs are not dealt with once and for all?  I can’t believe that so many holes have to be in our roads and that they patch everything.  I have no doubt that the council will tell us that there is not the money to do the job properly and find a way to blame the Brexit factor somewhere, but I have real trouble understanding why just about every service in the borough has dropped their standards over the past few years.   

CH, Beckenham.

LPG did some research and found that if your car is damaged by a pothole the local council is more than likely to be responsible.  It is possible to take the council to court for wasted time and damaged tyres.  We did not find any statistics showing just how many car tyres are damaged in this way, but it was interesting that Lewisham council have a page on their website with instructions showing how to report a pothole.  We also found some information about how to make a claim if your car is damaged this way. Perhaps it is worth reading some of the suggestions in advance just in case your car falls victim.

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