MORE angry motorists are facing costly bills to repair their cars after they were badly damaged by large potholes in Ipswich.

Lizzie Parry

MORE angry motorists are facing costly bills to repair their cars after they were badly damaged by large potholes in Ipswich.

Just days after the Evening Star highlighted the poor state of the roads around the town two more drivers have today come forward with their stories.

Jessica Hall was driving along Tuddenham Road when her Renault Laguna plunged into a pothole measuring 36in by 16in on Sunday, February 15.

The impact completely wrecked her front passenger side alloy wheel and tyre and caused her car to break down.

She said: “It was about 5.20pm so it was still light but it was in the 60mph section of the road so I was driving at quite a speed and I couldn't swerve to avoid it because there was another car coming in the other direction.

“And I couldn't stop suddenly at the speed I was going. Obviously I knew I had hit it from the loud bang it made.”

The 29-year-old managed to pull in to Humber Doucy Lane and stop at the old Westerfield House Hotel, where her car cut out and she realised the damage that had been done.

Miss Hall, of Stradbroke Road, is unsure of the final cost but an early estimate put the total bill for repairs at around �300.

This is not the first time she has fallen victim to the poor state of that particular stretch of road.

In May last year her car was damaged by another pothole near to Gresham's and the Millennium Cemetery resulting in a �500 bill.

“I am really annoyed it has happened again,” she added. “It is quite dangerous having potholes that size left without being repaired.”

Miss Hall now intends to lodge a claim with Ipswich Borough Council in a bid to recoup the second round of repair costs.

Sharon Abbott, of Bucklesham Road, was driving along Graham Road on Friday, February 13 when her Mercedes B class ran over a pot hole measuring 12in by 8in - ripping the tyre from the wheel.

“I just heard an almighty bang,” she said. “A warning light came on telling me to check the tyre pressure, when I stopped the tyre was completely flat. It had been completely pushed off the wheel.

“It cost me �135 to replace the tyre. I was only going 20mph, I hate to think what would have happened if I had been driving any faster.”

Ms Abbott has also submitted a claim to Ipswich Borough Council to try and recover the cost of the tyre.

Send us your pictures of potholes you have spotted. Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.