A Leicestershire driver has hit out at the state of the county's "diabolical" roads after taking the council to court over a pothole which damaged his car – winning the case.

Lewis Bowen, 31, from Barlestone, decided to fight back against Leicestershire County Council after he struck a large pothole in Bosworth Road, Osbaston, on June 20, 2025.

Mr Bowen told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he was driving in his £14,000 BMW X1 at around 30mph before hitting the 13cm pothole which was located on the edge of the road.

He added: "I needed to pull over immediately but obviously I couldn't pull over at that point so I pulled over into the Co-op in Barlestone which was around a minute's drive from where I hit the pothole.

"I could hear [the air] coming out of my tyre. I live about a two-minute drive from the Co-op so I've got an electric pump and pumped up the tyre as much as I could to get home.

"I was stranded there [at home] and I had the tyre medics come home and replaced the wheel at my house."

Mr Bowen said the damage punctured his tyre and cost him around £142.50 to replace, and he quickly filed a claim to Leicestershire County Council about the damage.

The council responded to the claim and admitted that the "pothole had not been reported prior" but used Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 to defend against Mr Bowen's claim.

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A representative from the council claimed that "reasonable care had been taken to ensure the highway is reasonably safe" and that "the road

had been inspected within the required time interval and there had been no previous reports of any defect developing".

However, Mr Bowen decided to challenge the rejection which was also refused before he decided to go to small claims court to oppose the decision.

Not long after he filed the claim, the council said it would "vigorously defend" it despite the 31-year-old representing himself in court.

Mr Bowen later appeared at Nuneaton County Court, representing himself against council solicitors and two witnesses.

He told the LDRS: "I was annoyed and I thought I would see it through until the end. It just spurred me on more.

"It was quite dramatic, even the clerk said to me there seems a lot of them. It was nerve-wracking, but I was prepped, and I felt like I had a case."

Mr Bowen won his court case after the council failed to prove its Section 58 defence and breached its statutory duty after arguing that the road where the pothole was – wasn't properly inspected.

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As part of the council's defence in legal documents, seen by the LDRS, it admitted that there was "no inspection recorded" against the part of the road where the pothole was, but had inspected it alongside another longer stretch of road not far from where the incident happened, with a different unique street reference number, or USRN.

Mr Bowen argued that because there was no evidence that the council had inspected the specific area of the road with a unique USRN where the accident happened, the Section 58 defence could not be used.

He also argued that Leicestershire is currently under a "Red" rating by the Department for Transport, which councils are judged on, including the condition of local roads, the amount of money councils spend on road repairs, and whether they follow best practices in maintaining highways.

The court ultimately sided with Mr Bowen before awarding him the full amount, which included £148.50 for the tyre, plus a £35 court issue fee and £27 hearing fee, totalling £210.50.

He added: "I'm happy that the correct outcome was the final outcome. They should do a much better job of maintaining the roads in good condition.

"I'm not on my own thinking that the roads in Leicestershire are diabolical."

Mr Bowen also urged other drivers to "push" the council to provide evidence of maintenance inspections if they suffer damage from a pothole.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: "This section of road was inspected, but due to an error recording this on our system the inspection could not be evidenced on this occasion.

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"The latest National Highways Transport Network (NHT) survey places us in the top 25% of comparable authorities for satisfaction with road conditions and we'll continue to work hard to deliver high standards for residents.

"There has also been an additional investment of £2.5m in maintaining our road network, including more inspectors to fix issues faster."