A RESIDENT at last week s Upminster Area Committee meeting asked why only one pothole had been filled in Severn Drive, Cranham, while others just several feet away were left untouched. A representative from Havering Council s StreetCare team explained po

A RESIDENT at last week's Upminster Area Committee meeting asked why only one pothole had been filled in Severn Drive, Cranham, while others just several feet away were left untouched.

A representative from Havering Council's StreetCare team explained pothole repairs were prioritised depending on their width and depth and in some urgent cases a temporary repair could be made to the worst potholes, as possibly in this instance, until the complete repair scheme could be carried out.

Cllr Linda Van Den Hende said: "Common sense tells you it should be done the engineers have to work to strict guidelines and they don't have any leeway."

The member of StreetCare said in the first couple of months this year Havering spent the equivalent of what they would usually spend in a year on pothole repairs. Cllr Van Den Hende said: "We're never going to get enough money to fill potholes to the standard we would like them."

Another resident questioned how many compensation claims had been made to Havering Council for damages to wheels or tyres resulting from potholes in roads. The StreetCare representative said he wasn't sure but guessed it had probably increased.

Cllr Van Den Hende added she was aware of someone coming off their mobility scooter in St Mary's Lane, but said the repair there had since been made.

Cllr Gillian Ford said she was "aware of car windscreens being damaged because of flying stones" and called for StreetCare to "clean up" the roads because of it.

"I heard there's a backlog by Autoglass of three weeks for replacement windows because there have been so many claims," she said.