Bank of Dave star gets pothole fixed in 'record time'

A TV and film star whose car was left with more than £1,000 of damage from a pothole told his local council to use the money owed in compensation to fix the road.

And it did, in what Dave Fishwick believes could be the "fastest pothole recovery ever in history". After making his suggestion earlier this week, the road has already been repaired.

"It'd be wonderful to see as many potholes filled in as possible" said Fishwick, who inspired the movie Bank of Dave after he set up his own bank following the financial crash of 2008.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council, which looks after the roads for much of the county, thanked Mr Fishwick "for bringing the issue to our attention".

Fishwick said he was driving through Sabden in Lancashire earlier this week when he hit the pothole.

He said: "The alloy wheel's bent, it's all scratched down the side and the tyre's ripped to shreds.

"It popped the front wheel of the car, within seconds the alloy was down on the ground, I got out, looked and I jumped into a pothole, but it felt more like a sinkhole than a pothole."

He reported it to Lancashire County Council and, after receiving a message back in less than 24 hours, told the authority "look, rather than giving me the money, keep the money and fix the hole".

It comes as Burnley's Labour MP Oliver Ryan is calling on the Reform-led authority to sort out the area's potholes.

He said the roads seemed to be getting worse in and around Burnley and pointed to Moor Lane in Padiham, which is also a bus route.

"They need to just crack on with the job now and get better at doing the day job, spend less time on Facebook and get more time getting potholes done," said Ryan.

Meanwhile, the independent leader of the opposition at Lancashire County Council has described the situation on the roads as "like a war zone."

Councillor Azhar Ali has complained about London Road in Preston, at the junction of New Hall Lane, a major route in and out of the city.

He said: "There's that many potholes and what I'd call craters and when cars are hitting them at 40mph or 30mph, not only is it damaging the car, but it's making the road surface even worse."

He said it was not just in Preston.

"The M65 from Colne to Burnley, there's massive craters on there and cars are swerving at 60mph trying to get past them," he said.

"I want the Reform administration and County Hall to put more money into dealing with potholes immediately, and get teams working during the night."

The council spokesman said: "Lancashire's roads support more than 4.6 million journeys every day, and we repair thousands of defects every month across the county, prioritising those that present the greatest risk.

"Road safety remains a priority, and potholes can be reported quickly and easily via our website."

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