The owner of a garage in Cambridgeshire says the state of the roads in the local area are creating extra work for his mechanics.
Jamie Coombs, of March Fast Fit and Servicing, told Planet Radio: “We haven’t got the amount of time we normally spend with people and the ability to drop everything and jump on someone’s car because we’re inundated with the amount of work we’ve got on.
“One in five customers are coming in to say ‘I’ve had to swerve, I’ve hit a pothole‘ and the roads were never this bad. The problem with the condition of the roads is they’re amplifying the faults that are already there, making noises louder and corroded parts break.
“As soon as the road conditions are better, we should hopefully find that customer spending should be a lot lower.”
Last year, March Fast Fit and Servicing, which was established four years ago, picked up an award for the Best New Start-Up.
Jamie Coombs said: “It has been hard work launching the company but it shows that it can pay off. Winning the award means we are doing something right. When I found out we had been nominated – not by us but by someone else – I thought, ‘why don’t we deserve it – we work hard’.”
Council to spend £5m on roads
Yesterday, Cambridgeshire County Council announced that it would be spending £5m on medium term repairs to the 25 most used roads, including the B1096 in Benwick and B1104 in Isleham.
Councillor Alex Beckett, chair of the highways and transport committee at the county council, said: “We will continue to do what we can locally to maintain and keep these roads safe.
“However we need to be aware this is a national issue, and we need support from our local MPs and government to tackle this issue properly.“
The council added that it would consider weight restrictions and lower speed limits to limit damage to the road network.
Source: Planet Radio