Blind opera singer's concern over pothole danger

Denise Leigh says potholes are "really dangerous", particularly for people who are visually impaired

A blind opera singer who was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent says she wants road maintenance to be taken seriously, as she spoke of the dangers of potholes to visually impaired people.

Denise Leigh, from Audley in north Staffordshire, said potholes were not only "really dangerous" but that she had fallen into some where she had "nearly disappeared."

"Some of them are so deep, you can't believe the council are just ignoring them," she said.

Staffordshire County Council said it had fixed more than 36,000 potholes across the county in the past year and was spending a further £60m on maintaining and improving the county's roads, alongside £16m from the government's Local Transport Grant.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Leigh said: "When you're walking around as a pedestrian, potholes are incredibly dangerous.

"You can fall down, you can twist your ankle, and you can really hurt yourself and your pride.

Ms Leigh said her guide dog had been soaked by vehicles driving through water-filled potholes

On some occasions, she says her guide dog had been soaked by vehicles that had driven through water-filled potholes.

"I get absolutely covered from head to toe in water, me and my dog, and the dog gets really stressed," she said.

"My previous dog was so stressed about cars going past when it was raining that she used to try and hide behind me, and that's rubbish for a guide dog - a guide dog that just hides behind you."

She claimed that hitting a pothole on Avenue Road in Shelton when she was a passenger in a car made her go into labour with her daughter.

"There was a massive pothole, and my ex-husband just hit it," she said.

"And I just felt something, and my waters went, and that was it. I just felt it go."

Ms Leigh said the council filled in some potholes, "but within two months there's just another one, ten yards up the road".

'Sealing the cracks'

The BBC spoke to county council candidates about their thoughts on potholes and road maintenance in the county.

Liberal Democrat candidate Alec Sandiford said: "The one thing I would do is argue to bring services more in-house to the council."

Labour candidate Aaron Thurstance said: "When we are resurfacing roads, we need to make sure there's the correct treatment sealing the cracks, and then that will give us more life and also give better value for the taxpayer because they're cheaper than filling in the pothole itself."

Staffordshire County Council said crews had fixed more than 36,000 potholes in the last year

Conservative candidate Jeremy Lefroy believes there is more to do to keep the county moving, saying: "I think the council is doing what it can at the moment, but more needs to be done.

"And I think everybody would say that's a priority; we have to put more resources into tackling the state of the roads."

Green Party candidate Jack Rose said: "We want to change it to a much more strategic approach, so if they're closing down a section of the road, say 100m, they're doing all the potholes in that area, resurfacing it properly, raising the ironworks, and then moving on to the next location."

Reform UK candidate Sean Bagguely recently missed a flight after driving over a pothole on the way to the airport.

"We see many potholes that get repaired in theory only to reappear in a few weeks time because they aren't done properly," he said.

'Drainage issues'

Staffordshire County Council's director for economy, infrastructure and skills, Darryl Eyers, said the council's highways crews had made "a concerted effort" to deal with road defects, fixing more than 36,000 potholes in the last year.

He added: "As poor drainage can often cause road defects, we've stepped up our drainage cleaning programme and last year cleaned nearly 72,000 gulleys.

"We're also looking at targeted enforcement of landowners with drainage issues affecting the highway."

Mr Eyers also said the council was undertaking 20 road reconstruction schemes across the county this year and more than 450 preventative road maintenance schemes on roads, to prolong their life by around 10 to 15 years and help prevent potholes from forming.

"Good roads are important to everyone, and our crews are doing what they can to fix more roads, deal with drainage issues, and ensure we keep the county moving," he said.