A CHESHIRE woman says that had a road been properly inspected and repaired, she would not had to have taken a council to court over damage to her car.

Lisa Bennett, from Bulkeley – between Chester and Whitchurch – won her case against Cheshire East Council at Chester County Court on Tuesday, following three years of legal wrangling.  

She is set to receive about £1,500 in compensation to help towards paying for repairs to the inside alloys of her wheels when passing over a pothole on the A534 in Bulkeley measuring around three to four inches in February 2021.

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Having been granted a court victory last year in lieu of no defence, Lisa says she has kept her campaign for justice going to ensure Cheshire East paid for the repairs.

Whitchurch Herald: Examples included in Lisa's court case of how bad the pothole is. Examples included in Lisa's court case of how bad the pothole is. (Image: Lisa Bennett.)

“I’m happy to have had a legal victory at least – it’s taken more than three years to get to this,” she said.

“I got judgement on this case, which was set aside at the end of 2023, which means a court ruled in my favour because the council did not respond to the claim.

“It was judgement in default but I pushed the button on a County Court hearing for the council which was then issued to them and that’s when they started to take notice.

“They managed to go to the court, with my approval, to set aside the case to have it re-heard this year.”

Lisa insisted that if the authority had kept an update of the road’s deterioration during 2020, there would have not been a need for a court case as her car, and many others, ‘would not have been damaged’.

She added: “It has been a win for me but if Cheshire East had sorted the road out then this wouldn’t have been an issue.

“The road is subject to 12 inspections per year but in 2020, there were around six or seven months of missed inspections.

Whitchurch Herald: The pothole in 2021, months after the damage to the car. The pothole in 2021, months after the damage to the car. (Image: Lisa Bennett.)

“If they had carried out the inspection in December 2020 – in winter and within the time frame – they’d have known that Wrexham Road had issues.

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“All of those people whose cars were damaged – there were a few of them – wouldn’t have had that damage to their car and I’m one of them.

“It was negligence on their behalf, considering the A534 and the nearby A49 are now designated resilient networks i.e. they are highly important.

“At the time they weren’t but now they are and they are subject to 12 inspections a year.”