DEVON County Council has responded to Dalwood residents complaints over potholes in the village s roads.

DEVON County Council has responded to Dalwood residents' complaints over potholes in the village's roads.

Over 60 people attended a meeting at The Tucker's Arms last week in a bid to tackle the issue.

But, prior to the event, the council carried out road repairs and filled in some of the worst holes.

However, pub landlady Tracey Pearson argued that only around 10 per cent of potholes have been filled, and that it had been a poor job - without water being taken out first or the filling being levelled off.

A spokesman for the council said: "DCC is currently repairing potholes on the main routes into settlements, following completion of repairs on the main A and B road network.

"The primary access route into Dalwood, which comes off the A35 and past Andrewshayes, has been inspected and the potholes filled, and the remainder of the route to Dalwood will be completed within the week.

"We are yet to audit this section of road but, if it is not up to standard, the contractor will have to re-do the work at no additional cost to the tax payer. Devon's highway network is the largest of any local authority in the country, covering more than 8,000 miles.

"We will be inspecting the remainder of the county's roads as and when we can."

Ms Pearson called the meeting following complaints from customers and fear of losing business. She said: "We would have around 50 to 60 people coming in complaining that they had had to put a claim in or that the potholes had cost them money.

"Some said they wouldn't come back until things improved."

Staff had also complained that their route to work was dangerous.

And the village school was reported to have lost points and had received negative comments regarding safety during a recent Ofsted inspection.

Head teacher Sarah Baker said it was a serious problem for a small rural school, which is already struggling to keep its numbers up due to its location.

Ms Pearson added: "In future, we, as a community, need to be more vigilant at making speedier complaints and reports about any drainage problems and any road faults - no matter how small."

She added that Dalwood had a strong community and actively worked at maintaining the village.