An angry motorist has hit out at the council over concerns of inaction regarding ‘dangerous’ potholes on a major route.

John Green, 78, says he fears someone could be ‘wiped out’ while driving along the A3507 from King’s Somborne to Romsey due to numerous cracks and dents in the road’s surface.

The village resident says he’s flagged the issues with the stretch of the highway between King’s Somborne and the Somborne Chalk Quarry to Hampshire County Council on more than one occasion.

But after sending an inspector to investigate the bumpy highway, the council told him it didn’t meet the necessary safety requirements for a full resurfacing.

However, it has since confirmed further patch work will be undertaken on the road this year, while an inspection on the highway’s drainage system will also take place.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Mr Green said: “The road from Andover to Stockbridge was dealt with, but what amazed me more was that they (Hampshire County Council) resurfaced the road from Stockbridge to King’s Somborne, and a brilliant job was done.

“That road was in a far better condition than the one to the south of the village which they’ve not deemed to be a priority.

“If we get a bad winter now and it freezes up there will be even more potholes developing than are already there now, and the road is mostly patches.

“It was a ‘B’ road at one time, and I don’t think it can take the kind of traffic it’s seeing now, it’s just not wide enough.

“I drove down there with my wife the other night and we were confronted with a pothole.

“I had to brake from 40mph to 10mph because I simply couldn’t avoid it.

“The weather on that particular night was atrocious with the rain and all the rest of it, we could have easily been wiped out to be honest with you.

“There is already a big yellow sign at the end of the road which warns drivers it’s a hazardous stretch of the highway.

“So, I find it inconceivable that if they have already considered it a dangerous road, why haven’t they given it high priority?”

Mr Green says he has raised the issue with the King’s Somborne Parish Council and his Test Valley borough councillor David Drew, who attended the most recent council meeting.

And parish councillor Ian Beacham said while they are working with highways officers from the county council on several traffic improvement measures, the A3507 remains a concern.

He said: “On a positive note, we are working with Hampshire County Council Highways on a number of measures to help with calming traffic through the village because unfortunately an ‘A’ road which was upgraded some time back from a ‘B’ road is now a route used by several heavy vehicles.

“It’s the shortest route down to Southampton docks so it is heavily used by a lot of very large lorries, so we are working with the council.

“They’ve also improved the road from Stockbridge to the village, which is in excellent condition, so those are a few positives.

“But we would certainly fully support Mr Green’s issues with the state of the road coming out of the village and towards Romsey – particularly on the stretch which passes through Brook.

“I think the issue mainly lies with drainage. The road is patched by contractors, but I think what it really needs is some engineering work because it is dangerous.

“The road simply can’t accommodate the number of heavy vehicles it is seeing in its current condition.”

The Chronicle asked the council for a response on whether it was going to address the issue, and it confirmed further patch repair works are set to take place later this year.

Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Highways Operations, Councillor Russell Oppenheimer, said: “I am pleased to confirm that parts of the A3057 are due to be patch-repaired and/or resurfaced later this year, as part of our Operation Resilience planned maintenance programme.

“The existing highway drainage system(s) will be inspected during the design process to ensure that they are functioning correctly.”

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