A motorcyclist has been left feeling lucky, but angry, after he nearly came off his bike when he hit a pothole on a busy Norwich road during rush hour.
Chris Goulding, 55, who works in Norwich, was travelling along Dereham Road at around 8.15am, on Thursday morning when his bike struck a pothole.
The incident, which occurred opposite Wilco Motor Sports, nearly caused him to come off his bike.
Mr Goulding, said while he was lucky not to have done any serious damage to himself or his bike, he had 'jarred his back' in the incident.
He said: 'My back is really sore. It could have been worse, if I had come off I couldn't have controlled my bike, it's a brand new bike, I've only had it about a month.'
Mr Goulding said he commutes along Dereham Road everyday and was normally able to avoid the hazard, which he said had been there 'a long time' but was not able to on Thursday because a car pulled out in front of him.
He said he felt there were number of areas in Norwich, where, as a motorcyclist, he had to be careful, he said: 'If you come up quickly, [this pothole] is more in the centre of the road so a cyclist won't hit it but you're in a different driving position on a motorbike.'
Mr Goulding said he had reported the pothole to the council: 'I just want it repaired, we just need to do something about the roads, there were some provisions in the budget but this has been there a long time, it's an accident waiting to happen.'
A spokesperson for Norfolk County Council said in 2018/19 the highways team repaired 7747 potholes an increase of 1,885 on 2017/2018, they said the council aimed to repair potholes within six-weeks of receiving a report.
The said: 'We invest far more money on proactive maintenance (to prevent potholes forming in the first place) than we do on repairs.
'Our main aim is to prevent potholes occurring in the first place, but with rural roads, high usage and bad weather, it is an inevitability.'
- Potholes can be reported to Norfolk County Council here.
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