Is this the biggest pothole in Britain?

Anyone who has travelled on Britain's roads will know how many bad potholes there are at the moment... but this has got to be the biggest one yet.

Motorists in Gloucestershire are demanding action to fix a crater which measures 200ft long and 4ft wide.

It covers the entire length of Barton Street, Gloucester.

But Gloucester City Council says it can't afford to plug the giant hole until the next financial year because of the backlog caused by last year's snow.

The pothole has deteriorated significantly after last December's big freeze and is now causing residents to trip and fall.

Speaking to the news service SWNS, Gloucester City councillor Pam Tracey said: 'It must be the longest pothole in Britain.

'It is about 4ft wide and about four inches deep in places and goes right down the street.

'There is just a mess of rubble and stones down one side of the road.

'I'm surprised it has been left to get that bad, it's huge and it will be a big job to sort it all out.'

Sylvia Davis, 76, who has lived along the street since she was born, claims the road is in the worst shape it has ever been in.

She said: 'It is very bad. I had a fall a little while back and had to use a trolley when I went out shopping - which got stuck in the pothole.

'Another lady fell on it and had her leg in plaster.

'It is pretty deep in places and the whole road looks really messy.

'We have been on at the council for years to fix it - but we are still waiting.

'I feel really sorry for all the car drivers who have to use the road.

'I should imagine the pothole is the worst in Britain.'

Gloucestershire County Council has a £90 million backlog of work on the region's roads - nearly £30 million more than the national average of £63.5 million.

Councillor Stan Waddington, cabinet member for environment at the council, said work would be carried out on King's Barton Street - but not until the next financial year.

He said: 'We are aware there is some damage to the road surface on King's Barton Street in Gloucester, and Gloucestershire Highways has received calls about it.

'We are planning to carry out remedial work in this area early in the new financial year.

'I would ask residents to be patient with us as we are still dealing with the backlog of repairs resulting from the bad weather we experienced at the end of 2010.

'Our teams at Gloucestershire Highways are working very hard to inspect the network and keep it safe for residents, fixing the worst defects on the main roads first before moving on to the urban and rural areas.'

The council claimed it fixed around 90,000 potholes in 2010 alone - more than the previous three years combined.

After the freezing winter last year, the council had to deal with 860 compensation claims from people but only about five per cent were successful.

Snow damages roads because water in cracks in the road expands into ice, causing the surface to break up.

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