An e-scooter rider was hospitalised after hitting a pothole in Oxfordshire on Saturday night.

The rider hit the pothole outside the Red Lion pub in Old Marston, Oxford, just after 6pm on Saturday and was left lying face down on the road.

Despite already being filled in twice according to the pub’s landlady, the pothole caused the rider to crash and suffer injuries which needed hospital treatment. 

After the crash pub workers and punters rushed to help the man and called an ambulance, even helping to divert traffic around the injured rider while they waited for help.

The ambulance arrived after about 30 minutes and despite losing consciousness and suffering a bloody nose and mouth, the rider left hospital that night. 

Diana Berry, the Red Lion’s landlady, said: ‘A woman came in shouting that somebody’s fallen in the pothole and we all rushed out to help.

‘We diverted traffic and tried to make him comfortable but we didn’t want to move him because he said his neck was hurting.

‘He’d gone straight over the scooter onto his face.’

CCTV footage showed the e-scooter rider approaching the pothole outside the Red Lion pub in Oxfordshire

As the rider hit the pothole the e-scooter was sent into the air

The rider then faceplanted the road, leaving him with a bloody nose and mouth, as well as causing him to lose consciousness

Ms Berry said he had returned to the pub to thank staff for their help and told them he was okay.

She said it was the first time someone had fallen into the pothole but it had been filled twice, which she called ‘very worrying’.

Ms Berry said she had reported the pothole to the parish council, who reported it to the city council.

Zack Iqbal, owner of garage First Stop Spanner Works in Osney, Oxford, said the state of the county’s roads was ‘exceptionally bad’.

‘Motorbikes and cars are getting badly damaged by the potholes – in our garage, we’ve repaired about 15 cars in January alone due to pothole damage,’ he said.

‘This footage shows how dangerous it is particularly for two-wheeled vehicles, like cycles, mopeds and scooters, and how dangerous it is after dark, when they’re filled with water and you just can’t see them.

The rider was launched a small distance from the pothole after hitting it, pictured here with the e-scooter still in the air

After the crash the rider can be seen lying on the ground, before punters and staff at the pub came to help and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance

‘We can’t have the councillors telling us everyone should go on two wheels and then not have the infrastructure to support that. I just think it’s very, very poor.’

Mr Iqbal said he crashed his motorbike last week when he hit a hidden pothole, needing a tyre replacement.

‘It’s not just the damage it’s causing, it’s the anxiety too,’ he said.

‘I am really cautious now and I even avoid some roads, wherever I know there are particularly bad potholes.’

Oxfordshire County Council declined to comment as Oxford Road, where the e-scooter rider crashed, is maintained by the city council.

However it said in general, more teams and resources were being made available to repair potholes and repair crews have more than doubled in recent weeks.

A spokesperson added the council’s focus is maintaining roads rather than repair adding it has invested more than £14.5million since 2024 on surface dressing programmes.