SHAUN Foulkes (‘Gardener’s £200 claim fails’, Daily Echo January 22) should not be surprised at the time it took Poole council to process his pothole claim: councils need time to try to find a way to be released from their responsibilities.

I cannot understand what their being “in the middle of repairing that part of the road at the time” has to do with it.

If that is the case, then they must have been aware that the pothole that caused the damage existed. Councils have a duty of care to all highway users, therefore it should have been made safe or coned off.

Shaun should continue to pursue his claim. He may like to look at potholes.co.uk (section 58 of The Highways Act 1980) and the numerous other links, including the Freedom of Information Act, relative to the road concerned, all of which could be useful.

R TUCK, Pardy’s Hill, Corfe Mullen