Potholes 'costing blood bike charity thousands'

A charity which delivers potentially life-saving blood and medicine to hospitals has said its work is being put at risk by potholes.

Severn Freewheelers has nine blood bikes that operate around Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and the charity said more than half of them have been damaged this year due to poor road surfaces.

Since February, five of the bikes have undergone serious repairs due to pothole damage.

"I'd say it's getting pretty critical" said Simon Groves, fundraising manager at Severn Freewheelers. "We've been running for 20 years [but] it's becoming more difficult with the state of the roads across all our areas."

He added: "We have to raise all the money ourselves and that's [potholes] cost us £5,000 this year in additional charges we don't really want."

Severn Freewheelers, staffed by volunteers, does not receive any funding from the NHS or government and delivers its service free of charge.

The charity has written to councils across its operational area to highlight its concerns and is also planning to take up the issue with local MPs.

Groves continued: "We want to be out there helping the NHS and dealing with their patients and if we can't be there, we feel a little bit guilty - but it's difficult."

Wiltshire Council told the BBC that the county has "a massive historic problem to reverse" and that money from central government has been "decreasing quite drastically in real terms."

Prolonged rain during the winter has added to the problem in areas like Devizes, which has been dubbed "pothole capital" of the county.

Councillor Martin Smith, cabinet member for highways, said: "We have seen a threefold increase in the number of reported potholes.

"We've already fixed over 6,000 potholes since the start of the year. It's been a pretty big issue."

The Department for Transport said: "We are giving a record £7.3bn investment into local highways maintenance over the next four years in addition to £1.6bn this financial year."

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