Horsham woman's shock as car sinks into tarmac and 'lifts' road surface

At first Shirley Lynn thought she had a flat tyre but was shocked to discover large chunks of tarmac stuck to the wheel of her Toyota Yaris.

“I thought ‘Oh my God’,” said Shirley. “My car had sunk into the tarmac and as I moved it lifted the surface.”

She said the road – Goosegreen Close – had been resurfaced nearly two months previously. But, she said, the tarmac was still pliable ‘like putty’ and the road had been left with dents in its surface.

"There are stones in the road and the surface has got worse. There are tiny bits of glass appearing now.”

The incident is the latest in a string of complaints about the state of Horsham roads following re-surfacing works. Many residents say their roads have been left in ‘a mess’ with ‘an appalling finish.’

See: ‘They’re a mess’: residents hit out at the state of Horsham’s roads

And they are querying why residential roads are now being re-surfaced when major roads – many strewn with potholes – are being left untouched.

Potholes around Harwood Road have been described as ‘an accident waiting to happen.’

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council, which is responsible for Horsham’s roads, said: “The work carried out on these roads is a preventative treatment called micro-asphalt, used in roads that are showing early signs of deterioration but are not yet suffering from more serious defects such as potholes.

"By using relatively low-cost preventative treatments at the right time we avoid the need to carry out significantly more invasive and costly repairs at a later date.

“Micro-asphalt requires time to ‘bed in’ after being laid and its initial appearance is not representative of its final finish," adding: "We are however aware of specific concerns regarding the quality of the micro-asphalt treatments in the roads surrounding Heath Way, and this is currently being investigated.

Have you read? ‘Like a horror movie’: tiny flies plague South Downs village

Sussex village pub forced to take down naughty sign

“More significant damage to roads is beyond the abilities of micro-asphalt to overcome, and these roads are dealt with under a different works programme. “The Harwood Road roundabout is planned to be fully resurfaced, by digging up the existing road surface and replacing it, as part of next financial year’s works programme.”