A pothole campaigner has gone national with his message about the tarmac terrors.

Dave Newcombe, dubbed Mr Pothole in Tavistock for his policing and reporting of the tarmac dangers to Devon County Council highways (DCC), has appeared on a BBC TV news documentary.

He aired his views on the Panorama programme ‘The Problem with Potholes’ on Monday (December 8), presented by Richard Bilton.

The presenter said: “The UK is plagued by potholes. They can cost drivers dear, injure and even kill. So why are there so many, and why are many councils struggling to stay on top of the problem?”

He met frustrated residents throughout the country campaigning to get their roads fixed and insiders who tell Panorama what they think is going wrong.

Richard spoke to people hurt by potholes scarring roads across the country those who have lost loved ones (including family of a biker who died after falling from his machine when he hit a pothole) and those who run and maintain the road network.

Dave, of Tavistock, said: “Ultimately, a lot of the problem with potholes is down to inadequate funding. This seems to mean council highways either understandably, rationing what they can fill in or the repair quality meaning they don’t last. I’ve reported so many that don’t get filled, even when they do meet the criterion. Or, strangely, the same pothole could be accepted for repairs if I log it again the next day.”

He said: “The documentary showed how the repairs should be done properly to last - which is really to re-lay the road surface. But I know that’s expensive.

“I understand that Devon highways don’t have the funding to correct the problem, but I learned from being on Panorama that all councils do have a legal responsibility to maintain the roads safely. But that does need to be tested in court but ordinary driver has the money to pay the high legal costs.”

He has failed to persuade DCC to pay for his wife’s car when it was damaged by hitting a pothole and is therefore, sceptical any higher legal challenge to the responsibility of repairs on safety grounds would succeed.

Dave added: “I appreciate the scale of the problem faced by highways, but that should not be a reason for me to not press them for action on safety grounds. Early filling of potholes in clusters, whether they meet the repair criteria on shape and size or not, means avoiding accidents when they become real safety defects and ultimately saving money on later more expensive infilling.”

DCC introduced a trial programme in September of repairs in a few Devon areas, when reported by the public which covered nearby holes, whether a safety defect or not. This was welcomed by Dave as common sense, but he feared the trial could end up becoming a policy excuse for ruling out certain types of repairs.

DCC said while not everything would be repaired, the trial would establish the budget implications of taking a more proactive approach to fixing potholes before they became unsafe.