A driver voiced his worries about the safety of a road in Epping Forest ten years ago this week.

Fears have been expressed that a head-on collision between vehicles is inevitable unless action is taken to repair potholes.

Early last year Stuart Davey was driving down Daws Hill in Waltham Abbey on his way to work when he first noticed that holes had started appearing in the road.

Since then, he claims that he has repeatedly contacted Essex County Council to ask them to repair the damage but they have refused to act, citing the fact that the route is not a main road.

Mr Davey says that holes now mark the entire stretch of the Daws Hill, with some having grown a couple of feet wide and several inches deep.

Mr Davey, 30, who lives in Harlow, said: “Whenever you are driving along there you here these clunks and think, ‘is that it? Are my tires going to go?’

"As you get to near the top of the hill there is a completely blind bend and there are clusters of potholes so you are forced on to the other side of the road. It is extremely dangerous.

“I worry about getting a puncture near the bottom of the hill and the cars not being able to slow down fast enough. They often travel down the road at quite a speed and especially at night it would be difficult for them to see me as there are no lights along there.

“I have seen lots of vehicles clipping the mirrors of parked vehicles along the road or being forced onto the side of the road because of its state of repair."

Mr Davey said the road is a convenient shortcut to the middle of Chingford, where he works, enabling motorists to bypass the busy Sewardstone Road route so is often filled with commuters.

“It is just getting worse and worse. They are quick to install speed cameras, but this can be just as dangerous and they need to make this a priority before something awful happens,” he said

Essex County Council were approached for comment.