I have an Audi TT and just after Christmas (2012) I hit a pothole one evening which severely damaged a wheel and a tyre, to the point that it was dangerous to drive. The cost of the repair was £670. I was told by the council to put a claim in, which I did straight away. Over 5 months later I finally received a letter to confirm that they were not accepting responsibility because according to them the road had been inspected just 8 days before and the road was deemed to be acceptable.

The road itself was in a terrible condition for a 2 mile stretch and the hole I hit was huge - I enclosed plenty of photographic evidence, and kept the wheel and tyre in case they wanted to inspect it. There were a couple of houses across from the hole that I hit and I spoke to one of the residents who confirmed that I was not the first person he had seen photographing the pothole and that it had been there 'for some time'.

I do not accept the Council's claim that it was deemed to be in an acceptable state of repair, and having stood by the roadside to watch traffic coming up to it, every car swerved to avoid it - to me that is dangerous, but they would not accept that either. I hit it at night, and as there was no street lighting I just didn't see it until it was too late.

The council's letter says that I should get a lawyer if I want to take it further and was actually quite threatening. Not only that, the 'evidence' they gave me that it was not their fault was that no-one had complained about the hole before - but they gave me a whole list of holes along that road where drivers had complained, and unbelievably left those people's names and home addresses on the documents. Surely this is against the Data Protection Act?

I am livid about the whole situation and do want to take it further, but wanted to know if you had any advice as to whether it would be a waste of time or not.