A bike and car engineer has slammed the Council for 'poor quality' pothole repairs in Buckinghamshire.
Justin ‘Jay’ Andrews, 45, the owner of The Mobile Bike Doctor, has been helping cyclists in and around Amersham.
The mechanical engineer and car repair workshop owner with more than 30 years of experience in the field has witnessed first-hand the frustration and financial loss potholes are causing to cyclists and drivers.
He said: “Potholes and damaging bike wheels and cars have just as many issues with potholes.
“The problem is they are putting in receipts for compensation, but the Council just fobs them off. The council is just saying no. Legally, if any of these people stood up and said no, the council would be in trouble.
“We will go out and fit a tyre, I watch a person drive away and hit pothole again.
“Whoever is repairing them the quality is really poor. They are not cleaning the holes before filling them up or properly heating them.”
Now the dad-of-two is getting ready to open a new bike shop on Plantation Road in two weeks time, including a space to run workshops to teach people how to maintain their bikes.
He said: “I’m not just a bike mechanic, I’m a mechanical engineer and it makes a big difference.
“I’m building something for my family. My children will take over in four years. My 13-year-old already works here and he’s trained a bit, but believe it or not there are a lot of places who don’t want to train young people.
“Getting work these days isn’t easy anymore, there’s not nearly enough work and I want my children to be skilled.”
In the new workshop space, Jay will continue running bike repair courses for children with Amersham-on-the-Hill Scouts and Cubs to give children basic maintenance skills.
He said he didn’t think they were “shooting ourselves out of work” by providing courses.
“I think it will give us more work,” he said.
Although he is confident about demand, opening a new business during a cost-of-living crisis isn't a care free decision.
“I did have major worries. It’s money and livelihood on the line, but we will do a lot of bikes," Jay added.
Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for transport Steven Broadbent commented on the situation with potholes: “We have had to deal with unprecedented damage to our roads over the past winter.
"When the weather is cold and wet we can only make emergency repairs which are designed to create a temporary fix only.
“However, since April we have embarked on an extensive programme of permanent repairs.
"Crews have been out around the clock, seven days a week, making good the damage to our roads caused over the winter.
"To date we have repaired more than 10,000 defects across the county and have a programme for this year of over 200 extensive resurfacing schemes. In total we are investing over £34m on our highways this year.”
He said anyone with a claim for damage to their vehicle caused by potholes can fill out a form on the council’s website.
“It is very easy to do and we will carefully consider each claim made,” he added.
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/23633512.amersham-bike-repair-expert-announces-new-store-opening-soon/
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