A driver was left needing four new tyres after hitting a pothole on a busy Clacton road.
Graham Thornton, 62, was driving home from work on Friday, November 14 when he hit the crater in St Osyth Road.
Mr Thornton, who drives a Range Rover, said: "It was raining and dark, with lots of people on the pavement and cars on the road.
"It was hard to see anything on that road, and it is a bad road anyway.
"I tried to keep a little bit away from the kerb as it is quite high and I don't want to damage my wheels.
"But as I was driving – bang – the front wheel burst and the back wheel went down."
The front wheel of his car was cracked due to the impact and he had to replace all four tyres on the vehicle.
But Mr Thornton was not the only driver affected by the pothole.
He said: "Over the weekend, I had five other people report the same problem, after I posted the damage on Facebook.
"These people had to fork out money for new tyres and wheels.
"But if a motorcyclist or biker hit the pothole then we could have been dealing with a serious injury or worse."
The road was fitted with a temporary repair last Monday.
Mr Thornton said: "Essex Highways needs to fix these potholes properly.
"It is not worth the temporary repairs and needs to be done right, especially as the road is busy.
"They need to do the job right the first time, instead of consistently repairing the same holes with temporary tarmac.
"Why are we paying to drive on these terrible roads in Clacton?"
A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: “For the most urgent issues, it is sometimes necessary for us to carry out temporary ‘make-safe’ repairs.
"These let us work quickly to protect road users without needing to wait for full traffic management measures.
“Following reports from members of the public, we completed a make-safe repair on this pothole in St Osyth Road, Clacton.
"A full repair will be scheduled in line with our maintenance strategy.”
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