A 12.5 metre long pothole which has made a road inaccessible for seven months has had a "temporary repair."
Earlier this week, the Journal spoke to Charlton-All-Saints residents Vince Jenkins and David Bennett about a huge pothole on Warrens Lane.
The pothole made the road inaccessible, and as one of only two access roads into the hamlet, residents were concerned that they would become isolated if the other road, Church Lane, was over-used. Church Lane had already begun to form potholes itself.
In a post on Facebook yesterday, Cllr Richard Clewer said: "Repairs were carried out today, initially to a level I can only describe as utterly unacceptable as you can see below.
"I have been chasing this all day along side residents and finally a gully tanker has been sent down to clear the water and a better temporary repair is now being carried out.
"This is a temporary patch as I am told part of the road will need be rebuilt to fix the damage caused by months of standing water.
"I have been very clear with Wiltshire Council Highways that highways repairs have got to be carried our properly, even where we have difficult conditions with standing water."
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In response, David Bennett said: "I think Richard Clewer has put the right pressure to get a temporary fix for the road. All residents are pleased to be able to use the road again.
"However, the key issue remains clearing the ditches. Dialogue between Longford Estate and Wiltshire Council is essential to agree action. Until that is done then a long term repair will not be possible."
The problem is that rainfall causes the pothole to deteriorate further. The drains surrounding Warrens Lane are blocked, so previous road repairs have not lasted as the road quickly becomes flooded.
On Monday, Vince told the Journal: “The water doesn’t move away, so somewhere the drain is blocked, so it’s not being maintained
"It hasn’t been maintained for several years, so the result of that is there’s nowhere for the water to go.”
Until this week, Warrens Lane had not been repaired since October 2023.
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