A POTENTIALLY lethal pothole more than a metre wide will soon be filled in – nearly two months after it was reported to the council.

Mark Morrell, also known as campaigner Mr Pothole, visited Freeland, near Witney, after being invited by West Oxfordshire district councillor Merilyn Davies on Wednesday.

In Pigeon House Lane, the pair found the pothole, which is 14cm deep and 1.4 metres wide.

It the worst of several in a short stretch there.

Ms Davies, who represents Freeland and Hanborough for Labour, said: “There are no streetlights so if you’re cycling down here at night – which is what everyone’s being encouraged to do – you could kill yourself in the pothole.”

Mr Morrell had recently threatened Oxfordshire County Council with legal action if it did not fill in a potentially dangerous pothole in Kennington Road, Oxford. That has since been filled in.

He held a meeting with county council officers and environment chief Yvonne Constance in Banbury on Wednesday.

He said he was heartened by Mrs Constance’s response and said he had been given indications that the pothole will be filled in soon.

Mr Morrell said: “The thing I got from the meeting is that Yvonne Constance was pressing the officers: ‘why is it like this?’ and she seems to have an appetite to push things.”

Ms Davies told the county council about the pothole on May 22 and Mr Morrell did the same earlier this week.

It had first been reported on the FixMyStreet website, where the council encourages residents to submit reports of road defects, on April 4.

Ms Davies said: “The whole system is ridiculous. [The potholes] should be getting fixed anyway, without having to drag [Mr Morrell] to then pressure the county council to do its job.”

And he repeated his call for Government to pour in extra investment across the country to fix roads rather than relying on councils to improve them with dwindling budgets.

He said: “Most motorists are damaging a tyre every year.

“That’s £60, £70 a tyre [per person]. We could spend an extra £20, £30 [per person] a year on roads.

“People say: ‘well they won’t like that.’ But Government needs to change. Doing the same thing and expecting change is madness.”

Mrs Constance, county council cabinet member for environment, said: “We had a very positive meeting with Mr Morrell in Banbury which was very productive.

“I completely understand the frustrations people have with potholes in the roads and why Mr Morrell is so keen on championing the issue.”

She added: “It was good to be able to discuss the very real challenges that we face with funding for road repairs and I hope Mr Pothole will support us in our calls for greater funding.”