INCREASING numbers of dangerous potholes are making the lives of pedestrians and motorists hell.

Liz Mammatt, Conservative Party spokeswoman, said she is disgusted by Hounslow Council's negligence of the town's streets and roads and thinks it's high time something was done.

Her fury comes after her car was almost written-off when she drove into an 18-inch pothole in Vicarage Farm Road on Friday last week.

She said: "I was driving home and suddenly my Mini sank with a loud crack into a chasm. It was not until I went back and checked the scene of the accident in broad daylight that I saw that I had driven into an 18 inch pothole.

"It's outrageous. I could have been badly hurt, yet the situation is getting worse all across Hounslow. Potholes are becoming deeper, which is increasingly dangerous and life-threatening for cyclists and motorists. "

She added: "I have been telling Hounslow Council about some of the dangerous ones I have seen and they have promised to do something, but then I go back months later and see they are still there, because the council is just downright negligent."

Andy Atkinson, spokesman for Hounslow Residents Group, said the situation is a downward spiral that could see the council facing a barrage of legal action.

He said: "My 64-year-old wife was walking in Douglas Road on Thursday (November 29) and she fell over because the pavement is badly sunken and uneven and now has a hip injury.

"This is happening all the time because Hounslow Council simply does not care about the safety of its residents or it would act to repair all these dangerous roads. All the council ever says is that it does not have the money to make the repairs but it's going to be paying out a damn site more in litigation and legal costs when some of these injured people start suing."

However, a spokeswoman for Hounslow Council insisted that it was following procedure. She said: "There is nothing unusual or illegal about how the council deals with maintenance to roads and pavements as we follow the Local Authorities Association Code of Practice for Highways Maintenance.

"Every pothole is inspected wherever it is and if it is a danger we will repair it."

By.Sherelle Folkes