A road safety champion has thrown down the gauntlet to highways bosses over the number of potholes in Morecambe.
Sophie Lyden appeared in a social media video highlighting many potholes on roads in the town, including one measuring more than 3ft long.
Sophie, from Morecambe family car repair business Westgate Tyres, is known as 'The Tyre Lady' for her work in promoting safety on the roads.
She said in the video on Westgate Tyres social media, which has been watched by thousands:
"We are throwing down the gauntlet (to Lancashire County Council) because you need to sort yourselves out with the potholes on our roads.
"I'm on Glentworth Road East (in Westgate) and we've got six potholes. When you go up to the corner there are seven in the same patch.
Below, Sophie Lyden in her 'Pothole Patrol' video
"They are the same patches you repair constantly but we have four buses a day that go up this street, and with all the traffic on the roads, the potholes continue to reappear."
Sophie then measured one of the potholes to 38 inches, or just over three feet, in length.
The video then showed her on the White Lund Industrial Estate, where she highlighted further potholes including one she said had been given a "temporary fill".
WATCH the Westgate Tyres video on 'Pothole Patrol'
"I've worked very closely with the Lancashire County Council road safety team, I can't knock anything they do, they do as much as they can to keep the area safe," said Sophie.
"But it's being let down at the moment by the amount of potholes we have."
The video highlighted a further pothole on the Scale Hall roundabout (below).
"If it's not sorted soon, it's going to cause plenty of punctures," said Sophie.
"If somebody hits that pothole, and is unable to move, you're going to get a massive obstruction on a bus route.
"It causes a huge inconvenience to the road network in general."
Sophie and her sister Emma Townley said they'd had messages from the public since first beginning their 'Pothole Patrol' campaign, bringing potholes to their attention on Broadway at the junction with Lonsdale Road in Morecambe outside the Queen Victoria medical centre in Morecambe, in the West End and on Fairfield Road in Heysham (below).
"There are loads of damages (being caused by) these potholes," said Sophie.
"If only they would just fix the roads, you wouldn't have those issues."
A post on the Westgate Tyres Facebook page said: "Potholes are the hot topic of conversation EVERYWHERE."
Two years ago, Beyond Radio highlighted the shocking state of roads in Morecambe which at the time were said to be in their "worst condition for years".
Last week, Lancashire County Council revealed plans for a £72m programme to improve roads in Lancashire.
Plans to invest the money in maintaining and improving Lancashire’s highways and transport infrastructure in 2026/27 were being considered by Lancashire County Council cabinet today (Thursday March 5).
The funding will support a wide‑ranging programme of work across the county, including road resurfacing, structural repairs, bridges, drainage and street lighting, with a strong focus on preventative maintenance and right first‑time repairs.
The recent county council budget also included a pledge to spend an extra £45m on highway repairs such as potholes over the next three years.
A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: “Our roads carry over 4.6 million journeys a day, and we fix around 3,400 potholes each month.
“Potholes are caused by wet and cold weather and followed by the freezing conditions early this year, means that our roads have suffered a lot of damage recently. We triage all requests and respond to these in order of priority.
“Our Managed Service model delivers bigger, longer lasting repairs, tripling the average fix size and as a single provider it replaced multiple contractors, freeing council teams to focus on urgent work and resurfacing.”
You can report a pothole HERE or via the Love Clean Streets app.
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