The impact of pot-holes has been brought into sharp focus for one Norwich woman.

Norwich Evening News: The pot hole which damaged Toni Smith's car in Hellesdon Hall Road.The pot hole which damaged Toni Smith's car in Hellesdon Hall Road. (Image: Submitted - March 2013)

Toni Smith, who lives in the Marlpit area, was given a shock when she was driving home from work and a loose chunk of tarmac in a pot-hole flipped up and damaged the undercarriage of her Nissan 350Z.

Norwich Evening News: Spot the Pot logo.Spot the Pot logo. (Image: Archant)

The 29-year-old was driving along Hellesdon Hall Road, close to Hellesdon Barns garden centre, last Tuesday when her car was left with £1,100 of damages.

Ms Smith is now going through the 30-day process of finding out whether she can claim compensation from the county council, or needs to makes a claim from her insurer for the damage.

She says the council sent Highways Agency officers out to make an emergency repair to the pot-hole in less than two hours.

The incident came as no surprise to Green councillor Lucy Galvin, who represents Wensum Ward. Along with fellow Wensum ward Green councillors Neil Blunt and Caroline Brimblecombe, Mrs Galvin has been campaigning to stop people using Hellesdon Hall Road as a rat-run.

Mrs Galvin said people using the road as a rat-run is contributing to its poor state, saying: 'We have had petitions and campaigns for better traffic management as a whole for that area, as it is being used more heavily than it should, and that is probably contributing to the pot-holes.'

The problem of pot-holes is one which the Green councillors hear a lot about and Mrs Galvin is now backing the attempt to improve the situation through the Spot the Pot campaign.

'We get lots and lots of people raising complaints about pot-holes and we have been working constantly to address those issues over the years,' Mrs Galvin continued.

'Other councils have live data systems and you are kept up-to-date about your claim on their website. Here you have to get through quite a complex system.

'If the Evening News campaign can help address the reporting of it, that would be a big help.'

Spot the Pot campaign

The Norwich Evening News has begun the battle to bring our roads up to standard, with the launch of our Spot the Pot campaign.

We want to hear from you about the pot-holes blighting your street or any pot-holes that have already caused you major problems.

We want to find out the pot-hole hot-spots which need attention from Norfolk County Council and to find out what work is being done to prevent our roads deteriorating further.

So if your street is particularly blighted by pot-holes then send your views and photos to newsdesk@archant.co.uk or write to Spot the Pot, Newsdesk, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE.

You can also submit your photos of pot-holes at www.iwitness24.co.uk and by using social network site Twitter by using the hashtag #SpotThePot

To report pot-holes to Norwich City Council, call 0344 980 3333 or go to www.norwich.gov.uk/Forms, or to report a pot-hole to the county council, call 0344 8008020 or go to online.norfolk.gov.uk/highways