A PENSIONER, who has taken £240 from his savings to repair a car damaged by Redbridge potholes, is furious that the council are refusing to foot the bill.

Dennis O’ Keese, 77, of Grosvenor Road, Wanstead, contacted Redbridge Council twice last year when he was forced shell out for repairs to his car that were sustained after he found himself at the mercy of a number of deep cravasses in the roads around his home.

He said: “It was about January last year and I was going about 20mph down my road when I drove over a deep pothole.

“It pulled the steering wheel right out of my hand and I couldn’t control it.

“It took them ten weeks to fill in the hole and it completely wrecked my drive shaft, costing me £67 to repair.”

Later in the year Mr O’ Keese was forced to cough up another £172 after getting his back wheels stuck in two separate craters in The Drive, South Woodford, when he swerved to avoid a learner driver.

He said: “I managed to get out of the first one with the help of some people pushing me but I went into another one just 20 yards down the road and I had to be towed home -the roads in Redbridge are disgusting.”

Now, over a year after passing on the bills to the council’s insurance company, Mr O’ Keese has finally been told that he will not be refunded for the money he spent on the vital repairs.

He said: “They just washed their hands of it.

“I’ve been driving for 58 years and never had an accident or claimed on my insurance.

“This has taken all my savings away.”

A spokesperson for Redbridge Council said: “The Council's insurers consider all claims on their merits and make settlement in cases where they believe that the Council is liable.

“After the recent spells of freezing weather there has been an increase in the number of potholes appearing and the Council is repairing these, as normal, following regular safety inspections or specific reports from residents/motorists.”