A HEREFORD man has issued a call for urgent action to the county's roads amid concerns someone could be seriously injured by hitting a pothole.

Graham Davies said he believes the potholes in Herefordshire contributed to the condition of his car tyres before experiencing a terrifying blowout on the way to Heathrow airport with his pregnant wife, Laura, in the car.

He has already had to replace several tyres this year and has now issued an urgent call for action.

The 31-year-old who works at Central Roofing and Building Services, said: "You can lose control and if you are on an A road you're endangering people's lives around you. That's what's ultimately going to happen. Before long I think someone will have a bad accident as a result of that.

"Urgent action needs to be taken. I always say it's like when they didn't cut the grass as a result of them trying to save a few pennies and it could ultimately result in a death."

A spokesman for Herefordshire Council said that over the last three years, the council has 'substantially increased' its investment in the county’s roads.

An extra £20million from the council’s capital budget has been invested, in accordance with its asset management strategy.

"368 miles of road have been resurfaced in the last three years, which has resulted in the need for fewer reactive repairs and a 92 per cent reduction from 2013/14 to 2015/16, in the number of claims for third party damage," the spokesman said.

"This is the highest reduction in the number of claims for any local council in England and proves that our approach and the investment made is making a real difference for road users.

"Over the same period, we have worked closely with Balfour Beatty Living Places to achieve a 30% efficiency in our operational costs. The council has also been amongst the first in the country to be able to fully develop a risk based approach to its routine highway maintenance activities, which is seen as best practice nationally."

But it appears that the benefits are not being seen everywhere in the county. Mr Davies' call for action comes shortly after Leominster's Green Party councillors issued a plea to the leader of the council, Councillor Tony Johnson, to deal with the problem of potholes in .

Mr Davies added: "We are paying our taxes and it seems to fall on deaf ears. I think they are far more prepared to pay out compensation as a result of damage to cars than pay out to replace the road."

However, the council acknowledged there was more to do and the overall condition of the highways can only be further enhanced by the right level of sustained investment and an ongoing programme of targeted work to treat roads which are showing signs of deterioration before they need more costly repairs.

"In the coming year, we plan to invest over £21million in our highways and public assets, such as footways and street lighting, and have made a bid to central government for further funding," they added.