An enormous pothole the length of a double decker bus has been blamed for damaging cars and leaving a chocolate box village isolated from the outside world. 

Residents of a quiet Wiltshire hamlet fear they may be the unlucky victims of Britain’s biggest pothole, after a volatile winter left them with a 41ft long, seven foot wide,  crater.

The locals had been plagued with flooding issues which meant they needed wellies to walk through the road which was flooded for seven months from October until April.

But after a winter of repeated freezing and thawing and the water eventually cleared, a giant pothole was revealed.

The hole is so colossal, residents say small cars will get ‘grounded’ if they tried to tackle it, while others have been damaged trying to drive through it.

Residents of Charlton-All-Saints, which has just 60 dwellings, are ‘fed up’ with the lack of progress which has seen one of the two access roads to their homes put out of use.

They have accused Wiltshire Council of ‘papering over the cracks’ with slapdash repairs which has meant their nightmare has continued.

David Bennet, 76 (left) and Vince (right), stood by the pothole on Warrens Lane, Salisbury, Wiltshire

A car struggling to pass the pothole on Warrens Lane, Salisbury

The huge pothole in Charlton All Saints, flooded over and surrounded by traffic cones 

The chocolate box village, which boasts thatched-roof cottages and properties dating back to the 17th century, has just two parallel roads as entrance and exit points.

David Bennett, 76, has lived in the area for 10 years but says the ever-growing hole on Warrens Lane is making lives a misery.

‘It’s got to be one of the biggest around,’ he said, ‘we are near the River Avon and get a large puddle appearing. There was damage to the road in June 2023.’

He said efforts from the council to fix the road with cold tar have been unsuccessful so far, the last of which was in October last year.

‘When they use the cold tar it’s not a permanent fix as they keep breaking up,’ he added.

‘Then the rain started and frost that followed. The hole stayed under water for seven months.

‘If you wanted to walk to the bus, during that time you couldn’t walk down Warrens Lane unless you had wellies on.

David Bennet, 76 (back) and Vince (front), measuring the pothole

David Bennet, 76, measuring the pothole on Warrens Lane

The hole is so colossal, residents say small cars will get ‘grounded’ if they tried to tackle it

A local bin van struggling to pass the pothole on Warrens Lane

‘Dog walkers, runners, cyclists would normally use that road to go to the bus but they couldn’t use it.

‘The loose stones are the size of the palm of your hand, so riding your bike through it is quite dangerous.’

The retired corporate communications worker continued: ‘We all knew there was a huge pothole there before but now you can see it.

‘If you drive a small car through there, you will ground it.

‘The council are aware of it, but we are also aware they can’t repair something which is still full of water.’

Vince Jenkins, 64, has lived on the corner of the road in question for 11 years, but said he’d never seen anything as bad as this.

‘A number of people have had their tyres wrecked and cars scraped,’ the retired technology worker said.

‘When it was covered in water, delivery drivers didn’t know it was there.

Vince, looking at the pothole on Warrens Lane

‘I’m amazed that when they realised and tried to move to the other side, we haven’t hd a large vehicle gone too far to the right and disappear down the road, as there’a a big ditch.’

Mr Jenkins said he and other residents have had to warn guests about the huge hole to prevent extensive damage to their car.

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He added that all of the village’s traffic was now going up and down the other lane, which was putting stress on the road.

Mr Bennett explained the ‘number one issue’ was addressing the water that overflows from nearby ditches and has not been cleared ‘for a number of years’.

He continued: ‘It needs the whole section of road stripped back and rebuilt with hot tar.

‘That way they wouldn’t be wasting money having to re-do it.

‘When you paper over the cracks it doesn’t last long.’

He revealed that as a result of the growing obstacle, cars have had to start using a parallel road to get out of the hamlet.

‘And now that has developed pot holes because of all the extra traffic,’ he continued.

‘You have to drive around the potholes.

‘We are just fed up because we can’t use the road.

‘All the roads are single track so passing anyone you already have to find a drive to pull into.

The huge pothole was flooded over for seven months from October until April until residents discovered it underneath 

‘It is an inconvenience that is not necessary if the council would do something about sorting of the ditches so the water levels can disperse and then repair the road.

‘We know you can’t repair the road when it’s full of water.

‘It needs action by the council now.’

Mr Jenkins added: ‘The underlying issue is the maintenance of ditches either side of the road.

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‘Otherwise, the council will fix it but after another winter like the last one, it will be back the same way it was.’

Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Nick Holder, revealed teams were heading out to the site to ‘carry out some temporary repairs’.

‘We have been aware of this issue, but as it has been under water for some time due to the unprecedented high groundwater levels, so unfortunately we have been unable to start any work to repair it,’ he said.

‘The water levels are a product of the number of storms and amount of rainfall experienced this winter.

‘Unfortunately, the volume of water combined with the lack of a suitable point to pump the water to meant that it has not been possible.

‘Water levels have now receded to a level that will enable works to be undertaken.

‘Our teams are heading to Charlton-All-Saints to carry out some temporary repairs, and we will be arranging for a more permanent repair to take place as soon as it is possible.

‘While other councils around the county are cutting budgets, we are investing millions into the everyday things that matter to people, such as filling potholes and resurfacing roads; and that is on top of the tens of millions we already spend on these highways issues with Government grants.

‘We have allocated an extra £10m over the next two years to spend on filling potholes and a road resurfacing programme that will help to prevent potholes and other highways defects across all areas of the county.’

It comes as Labour claimed this week there are 100 times more potholes in the UK than there are craters on the Moon.

Shadow transport minister Bill Esterson told the House of Commons that the roads repair backlog has hit an ‘eye-watering £16.3 billion’, in reference to an Asphalt Industry Alliance survey report published earlier in 2024.

Facing questions from MPs, Transport Secretary Mark Harper hit back and said: ‘We’ve set out our plan very carefully – £8.3 billion of extra money to improve the quality of local roads.’

Mr Esterson said: ‘At the last transport questions, the Secretary of State suggested that drivers know what they’re getting with a Conservative Government.

‘Well, drivers know one thing they’re getting from this Government: more potholes – 100 times as many as there are craters on the Moon.

‘RAC patrols attended 33% more breakdowns related to poor road maintenance than in 2022, meanwhile, AA callouts were at a five-year high.

‘The road repairs backlog has gone up to an eye-watering £16.3 billion – that’s far greater than his allocation of money from scrapping the northern leg of HS2.’

The Department for Transport has pledged to spend £8.3 billion on road resurfacing over the period 2023 to 2024 and the next 10 years.