Colin Jones, of Holne and former district and parish councillor, writes:

The busy road from Buckfastleigh up through Hembury Woods is likened to that of a third world country.

Potholes of ‘mini bomb-crater’ dimensions – which vehicles just can’t avoid due to the narrowness of the road – are causing daily damage to cars and incensing residents and visitors.

Despite repeated pleas from both Holne and Buckfastleigh West parish councils and many local residents to Devon County Council and our county councillor, nothing has happened, other than someone painting some white lines on the road back in September... which have now all but disappeared.

This Boxing Day morning I had to drive from Holne (where I live) to Buckfastleigh, and I chose the alternative (longer) route to avoid Hembury, but the road was flooded near Scoriton and I only just got through the water, so I returned up the Hembury route – and was reminded how shocking this road surface is... and stopped to take some photos to prove it (pictured here).

The worst pothole is approximately 25ins long and 20ins wide and 6ins deep in the middle and today half filled with water – whilst I was taking pictures nearby not one but two cars drove over it with a shuddering thump... they probably couldn’t even see it coming up the hill.

Another hole is less deep but larger, and because the ground is a bit flatter at that point, completely fills with water – so making it very difficult for the unwary to anticipate. At night, even if one knows where these potholes are, it is all too easy to drive into them.

There are numerous other defects in the road – which is poorly maintained at the best of times, and in recent ‘austerity years’ either not maintained at all, or very poorly repaired so that potholes quickly return with all the rain and runoff that flows down that steep hill.

The county council doesn’t seem to realise it, but this is a busy route from Buckfastleigh to Holne, Scoriton and the moor including Newbridge, Two Bridges and Princetown. It is used by many locals and visitors and increasingly by supermarket delivery vehicles and parcel company vans etc. There is an alternative route, but it is not a good one, gets flooded regularly and is narrow and twisting towards Holne.