A CYCLIST who was thrown from his bike and broke his collarbone when he hit a pothole is furious the county’s roads are in such a bad shape.

Simon Carr, 44, said he was angry he had been injured – but said he was lucky the injury wasn't far worse.

He was riding along Brook Street in Benson on Bank Holiday Monday, May 7, when he was flung from his bike and into the road after hitting the pothole.

Dr Carr, who is a geography lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, lives in Green Close, Didcot.

But a move with his family from the town to the Lake District, where he is about to set up a new degree at the University of Cumbria, has been hampered by his injury.

Dr Carr said: “From what I gather, the injury to my shoulder took the impact. If it had been my head I could have suffered life-changing injuries.

“You don’t think about it when it happens but when you sit there reflecting you think: 'crikey, that was really lucky.'”

Dr Carr slammed the state of the roads as ‘pretty dismal’ and said the freezing weather over the winter could not be used by the county council – which is responsible for the condition of roads – as an excuse.

“Everyone knows how bad the roads have been over the last year – not withstanding the bad weather,” he said.

“I’m absolutely aghast looking at our roads and the potholes. I have noticed over the last year how the potholes have got worse.”

Oxfordshire County Council encourages residents to report road problems on the FixMyStreet website.

Dr Carr has recorded the ‘deep pothole’ on Brook Street’s – but yesterday it had still yet to be acknowledged by council staff.

It appears from the website that 31 potholes in Brook Street alone have been recorded on FixMyStreet in the last month as the county council struggles to repair roads with limited funds.

Well-known campaigner Mark Morrell, known as Mr Pothole, said the state of Dr Carr’s injuries – which saw him signed off for two weeks in the middle of critical exam season – was ‘appalling’.

Dr Carr said he is a ‘careful rider’ and that his accident was the first he has suffered on such a scale. He said it was caused by the road being in the shade as he rode along and the pothole appearing suddenly.

He said: “I’m quite a careful rider. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that. It is one of those things that suddenly appeared.”

The county council had offered a ‘few platitudes’ on Twitter after he complained about the pothole, Dr Carr said, but he said he will be applying for compensation for damage to his bike, time off work and for extra removal fees he will have to shell out for now he cannot lift boxes for the move himself.

“If you add that up and the people affected by [potholes across the county] it’s a ridiculous amount of money. It shouldn’t be happening,” he said.

Pothole campaigner Mr Morrell has worked closely with the Oxford Mail over recent months in the hope of improving Oxfordshire’s roads.

Known as Mr Pothole, he said of Dr Carr’s injury: “It’s appalling that he has had to suffer a human cost. It’s all well and good for the council to say 'there will be insurance payments' and 'we will do the repairs'.

“But they know their roads are in an appalling state and that there are people suffering day in and day out.”

He added: “We need a Government to see there’s a backlog and introduce a 15 to 20-year maintenance programme.”

In March, the Government pledged £1.8m extra to Oxfordshire towards fixing the soaring number of potholes on the county's roads.

Martin Crabtree, Oxfordshire County Council spokesman, said: “We are sorry to hear about the accident and will look closely at Dr Carr’s claim when he makes it to us. People are able to make claims to us for damage or injuries and we look at each one on its individual merits.

“We are working hard to repair potholes on the county’s roads, many of which are the result of the bad winter we suffered. This resulted in accelerated damage to the roads and a massive increase in the number of reports to us on FixMyStreet.

“While we are working very hard to do as many repairs as we can as quickly as we can, there will inevitably be potholes on people’s routes and we advise people to bear this in mind whether they are driving or cycling and report any problems they find to us via FixMyStreet.”