Driving over potholes 'like being on a choppy sea'

A group of driving instructors say the state of the roads in their town makes driving feel like "being on a ship in choppy seas".

The Oswestry and District Driving Instructors' Association (ODDIA) said potholes, worn-down give-way markings and blind junctions were putting learners and the public at risk.

The group of 27 instructors have filed a complaint with Shropshire Council about the state of the area's roads.

Heather Kidd, leader of the Liberal Democrat-run authority, said it had "inherited years and years of underinvestment", adding that dealing "with 3,200 miles of road and everybody complaining is very difficult".

Figures supplied to the BBC revealed that Shropshire Council paid out more than £1m in pothole-related claims between April 2020 and March 2025 - more than any other local authority in England, Scotland and Wales.

The council received 3,472 claims for compensation during that period and ranked third for the number of cases in which it then paid compensation.

By comparison, Walsall Council paid out £1,271 over the same period and received 107 claims.

At the time, the Shropshire authority said the number of claims was unsurprising because it had one of the longest networks of roads in England.

Gareth Jones is the chair of the ODDIA and runs Stop and Go Driving Academy in the north Shropshire town.

He said the group's complaint focused on areas in Oswestry where "line markings are non-existent; there are rough patches of the road, or traffic lights are at the wrong angle."

While for the instructors, "it's OK because we've got the local knowledge", learner drivers are finding it "really hard".

Mile End roundabout is a particular issue, he said, as road markings are "non-existent" in places, making choosing a lane - and staying in it - very difficult.

On other roads, markings indicating a give-way line or the end of the road have worn away, making it easy to "stray out into a different road and affect drivers going past", Jones added.

It is "extremely hard" to balance teaching correct driving technique while also avoiding potholes, he said.

"As a learner it's hard to focus on more than one thing - they're still getting that muscle memory," Jones explained.

The instructor added they also faced "other drivers trying to intimidate" the learners.

The road conditions are also taking a toll on the condition of instructors' cars, "without a shadow of a doubt", Jones said.

"You find some roads where you're slaloming down it because you're trying to avoid some of the worst potholes," he explained.

"It's like you're on a choppy sea, and the boat's being thrown around - and so are you."

Heather Kidd, who leads Shropshire Council, said "Oswestry is the same as most places", adding that the council had "a problem that we're working our way through”.

Hot weather over the summer caused delays in filling potholes, she explained, adding "it was so hot all the tarmac melted, and it was really difficult to catch up”.

The cooler months will see a "huge scheme of extra crews" take to the roads to improve them before the winter, Kidd said.

The leader added it was important for the council to address potholes across the county, not just in larger settlements.

"Everybody pays their council tax," Kidd explained: "We can't just do it in the town centres."

She added that people in both Frankwell, near Shrewsbury town centre, and the rural border village of Priest Weston had been "moaning" about problems with their roads for some time.

"We are working our way through as many [potholes] as possible," Kidd said, adding that "we resurfaced far more roads last year".

In a statement, David Vasmer, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways, said he was "determined to improve Shropshire's roads".

He noted that cold and wet weather last winter resulted in "a big increase in the number of potholes", and echoed Kidd's explanation that the summer heatwave had "taken its toll" on the roads.

Since January, the council has "repaired almost 30,000 potholes", Vasmer said, and was "working hard" to prevent them forming in the first place.

The ODDIA's complaint was "being investigated" he added, with officers "due to meet the complainant shortly".

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