A South Oxhey road is becoming "more and more dangerous as days go by" as potholes get a "quick fix" rather than long-term work, according to a resident.

John Towill has lived in Gosforth Lane for four years and is concerned about the condition of the "popular road".

The 47-year-old, who works in grounds maintenance at Barnet Council, said he can often hear the "squeal of brakes" as motorists try to avoid the gaping holes in the road.

Workmen tended to the emerging potholes last month. However, Mr Towill said that there are already serious signs of deterioration and things are "just as bad as before".

Mr Towill said: "The potholes have been here for years and they’re a regular occurrence. People came to fill them in a few weeks ago but now they’re back again and the situation is even worse.

"I pay my council tax on time every month and it’s such a waste of taxpayers’ money to send people out just to do a quick fix.

"I think that more should be done to permanently improve the quality of this popular road."

Mr Towill explained that about a month ago a stray stone from one of the potholes outside his house hit his wife, Susan, in the face.

He said: "Whenever cars go down here they just spray stones. Stones are being thrown out all the time and, unless proper repairs are done on it, somebody is going to get seriously injured."

He added: "My wife was just walking from her car to our front door when a driver went over the pothole and a stone flew up into her face.

"Luckily she wasn’t badly hurt, but there are schools nearby and the damage could have been even worse if it had been a child."

Mr Towill said: "Because it’s such a popular road in South Oxhey, it’s getting more and more dangerous as days go by.

"For such a main road with so many amenities on it you would have thought that it would be a priority to keep it in a reasonable and safe condition."

Matthew Kelley, Ringway Divisional Manager, working on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, said: “Due to the current extreme weather conditions, with significant, continual rainfall and flooding there has been an increase in the opening up of potholes on the network.

“This is due to the saturated ground and water ingress into the substrate of the carriageways. With the sheer quantity of defects and continued lying water, temporary repairs are necessary as opening up the road surface in these conditions can lead to longer term damage to the substrate. 

“We are anticipating that there will be an increase in potholes and damage to the road once the water subsides due to the detrimental effects of exceptional volume of standing water on the road surface. Once more normal weather patterns return we will be in a position to implement a full programme of permanent repairs.”