A professional chauffeur has described roads in a north London borough as “despicable and a danger to drivers”, saying a pothole damaged his car and caused him to lose out on a day’s pay.
Brent Council has refused to pay damages as it was “not aware of the pothole until after the incident” and has since repaired the road defect.
Brent has been accused of failing to accept responsibility for driver Andy Sozos’s Mercedes being damaged by a pothole on January 9. A union officer has called on the local authority to accept liability and compensate Mr Sozos.
The professional chauffeur claims he suffered “significant disruption” to his livelihood when driving down Priestly Way near Brent Cross as he says damage to the wheel and ball joint meant he was forced to take the car off the road.
Despite having to take an unpaid day off work to get his car fixed, Mr Sozos is just looking to claim back the £146 for the new tyre.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I had to arrange for another car to pick up my client, pay out for a new tyre, pay for a new track rod arm to be fitted, and have an unpaid day off work to get this fixed.
“This incident caused significant disruption to my livelihood. I lost work as a result, and I am still left out of pocket for the repairs. It left me quite shocked by the level of damage done to my tyre, which makes me worry for the safety of the roads in Brent.”
He added: “The state of the roads in the borough is atrocious. As a professional driver, I regularly encounter potholes and other defects. Only a short time before this incident, I narrowly avoided a large pothole on the A5 which would have done serious damage to my car.
“Four months later and the council still won’t pay out for the damage done by the poor state of their roads.”
GMB Regional Officer for Taxi and Private Hire, Steve Garelick, said: “Mr Sozos has been left out of pocket due to the shocking state of the borough’s roads.
“He has been battling for almost four months for Brent to accept liability for this incident. Brent Council must stop dodging its responsibilities and compensate Mr Sozos.”
Brent Council had not inspected Priestly Way since the previous August and, although it did repair the road defect on January 22, it has denied liability for the damages caused. More than 80 roads and pavements across the borough are being revamped as part of its £15m resurfacing budget, according to Brent Council.
A spokesperson for Brent Council told the LDRS: “The road in question had been inspected a couple of months before and the pothole was not present. We were not made aware of the pothole until after the incident, and have since inspected and filled it. Whilst we are sympathetic to the circumstances, we have continued to inspect the road and fill potholes when they are found.”
They added: “Over the last few years we have spent over £15m on revamping pavements and roads, and you may have also just seen that we opened Wembley High Road in record time.”
Councils and local authorities are required to ensure the safety of people using public spaces, such as parks, highways and footpaths by making sure they are properly maintained. If they fail to do this, the council can be sued for any injuries or accidents that occur as a result.
In order for someone to claim, they must prove that the local council or authority breached its duty of care and that this directly caused the injury.
In February, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that the local authority has paid out nearly £600,000 in compensation for accident and injury claims caused by potholes and pavement defects since 2020.
