AA chief's car wrecked by potholes

The head of the AA has had his own car wrecked by potholes just days after warning the nation of the dangers of poorly-maintained roads.

AA president Edmund King was filling his Mercedes E-Class with petrol when the whole front of the vehicle collapsed.

Mr King, who was taking his son Finbar to a football match the 12-year-old was playing in, had to call one of his own recovery vehicles.

The car was towed to a Mercedes garage where repairs were carried out.

"I was lucky that the car was stationary and we were at a filling station," said Mr King.

He went on: "If I had been, say, on the outside lane of a motorway and this had happened it could have been very nasty indeed.

"We found that the front left spring of my car had broken and the mechanic said that this had been caused by wear and tear from potholes."

Mr King said: "While I was filling up we heard this hissing noise. When I went round to the front of the car I saw the extent of the damage."

Shortly before the incident, which occurred in St Albans in Hertfordshire, Mr King had been highlighting a report by the Asphalt Industry Association which said councils needed £10.5 billion to bring local roads up to standard.

Mr King had also published an AA survey which showed that one third of AA members had suffered damage to their cars from potholes in the last two years.