IF there’s one thing Britain does well, it’s potholes! And here in Wales, we’re leading the curve when it comes to roads that will chew up your tyres faster than a pit bull munching on a wasp.

In Abergavenny and the surrounding area, we might be blessed with an abundance of beautiful scenery, but don’t mention the roads!

Where once there were vast strips of smooth and dreamy tarmac to transport you from one place to another with an effortless grace, there now lie scarred and shattered roads, not fit for purpose.

And as potholes are a tribal species, who like to travel in gangs, you can bet your bottom dollar that if you spot one, there are hundreds more waiting just around the corner, ready to pounce and destroy both your equilibrium and your vehicle.

The Chronicle has been inundated with an avalanche of complaints from angry motorists who claim the roads are going to rack and ruin while the council sits on a big pot of money they are saving for a rainy day or an extinction-level event.

When you can’t even innocently buy a pastie in a local bakery without someone telling you how their tyres have been destroyed by one of the numerous potholes in the local area, you know we’ve reached a tipping point.

The potholes are growing in number, and they’re getting more brazen.

Extremely vicious ones have been spotted on the Merthyr Road near Waitrose, and the A40 just before Pyscodlyn Farm. However, their number is great, and they are quite literally everywhere. Nowhere in Aber is safe from this growing menace, but where do they come from and what do they want?

According to the RAC, potholes first reared their ugly head in the days of the Roman Empire when poor potters stole clay from roads and left deep holes.

Fast forward a few centuries, and no one’s using tarmac to make bespoke pots. Today’s potholes are caused by water seeping into tiny cracks, making them larger.

Add a bit of traffic and a lot of rain, and hey presto, you have a pothole that further weakens the road and eventually invites its friends around for a pothole party!

The science that causes them is not hard to understand, nor is the fix. Just ask Rod Stewart!

When we pointed out to Monmouthshire County Council that there are a fair few holes in Abergavenny that need a good filling, they said, “We are currently developing the programme of works for the forthcoming financial year. We do undertake temporary repairs to potholes pending a permanent solution.

“Unfortunately, due to the extent of our highway network and the ongoing weather conditions, which are creating damage to the highway’s surface, we have to prioritise where our resources are allocated.

“Drivers who believe that their tyres have been damaged by a pothole can submit a claim to our insurance team with supporting evidence.”

In the meantime, if you’ve got a pothole in your neighbourhood that needs sorting out. Take a picture, preferably with someone angrily pointing at it, email it across, and we’ll take your concerns to MCC and put it in our ‘Pothole of the Week’ feature.