AN experienced cyclist who escaped serious injury when his bike struck a pothole wants the authorities to take the problem more seriously before someone is killed or seriously injured.

Stuart Taylor, Silverdale, hit a pothole cover (pictured) at the junction of the A6 and B6385 in Milnthorpe, causing two flat tyres.

Mr Taylor said the pothole was in excess of two inches deep and the steel cover was exposed, causing the edge of it to act as ‘a guillotine’ to his bicycle wheels.

“This to a cyclist is disastrous and outright dangerous,” Mr Taylor said. “By pure luck and chance, I managed to stay upright. Imagine a young cyclist or elderly person hitting this dangerous pothole steel cover.”

Mr Taylor, 63, said that he gets regular punctures because of the poor road conditions but claims the authorities ‘shrug’ off incidents.

He believes this particular pothole has been repaired three or four times since July but that when reported by cyclists it has been deemed ‘not actionable’.

“Not actionable for what?” he said. “They look at something and say it’s fine for a car or a truck but not in regards to a cyclist.”

A cyclist for some 40 years, Mr Taylor said he regularly rides on Cumbrian road with friends - some of whom have suffered broken shoulders and bust ribs after hitting potholes.

My Taylor’s story comes in the same week that the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey, produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, reported local authority highways departments estimated the time required to bring the road network up to scratch would be 14 years and would cost £11.8 billion.

A Cumbria County Council (CCC) spokesperson said it took ‘road safety extremely seriously’ and was aware of the poor road surface condition at its location.

“We are monitoring the location ahead of forthcoming full re-surfacing works and are undertaking temporary repairs as required until the road is completely re-surfaced,” the spokesperson said. “This resurfacing work is scheduled within the 2017-18 scheme of highways maintenance work.”

Members of the public can now report a fault online and add photos at www.cumbria.gov.uk.