'AWFUL' pothole repair work has come under fire from Penhill residents who says it's just not good enough.

Workman come out on October 16 repair the area where the bus stops on Penhill Drive outside the Deer's Leap after the tarmac has become badly misshapen

But residents say this is a botched job and feel Swindon Borough Council is not giving Penhill the attention it should.

John Payne, who lives on Bratton Close, said: “It’s laughable the way they’ve done it.

“All they’ve done is filled the holes with a bit of tarmac. It’s already flaking out and by next month it will be back to the way it was before. It doesn’t take long for buses to destroy that.”

Paul Baker added: “They’ve botched it. They’ve just poured some tarmac in and tapped it down. It’s already coming out at the edges.

“It’s awful, it’s like a tarmac patchwork quilt. If you had that done on your own home, you wouldn’t pay for it,” said Paul, who has lived in Penhill all his life.

John explained that when buses stop in the bus stop the engine heat causes the tarmac to soften and over time due to the frequency and weight of the buses coming through the tarmac has been pushed out of shape.

“So it needs to be done properly,” John said.

Both men agreed that the surface of the road needs to be cut out and completely replaced to solve the problem.

“It seems they are throwing good money after bad, just putting a but of tarmac down, said John.

“It’s very frustrating as a resident. We’re here paying our council tax which pays for the roads, but nothing gets done.

“The council keep saying it’s going to be done at some point in the future. But in the mean-time people are paying out hundreds of pounds to repair their cars because of the holes,” he added.

John thinks the council prioritises maintaining smarter areas like Lawns or Tadpole Garden Village.

“They don’t care about Penhill,” John said.

Paul added: “We’re just being treated as second class citizens. We pay the same council tax like everybody else and I don’t think we get the service we pay for.”

A council spokesman said: “The work to repair the road outside the Deer's Leap is a temporary fix to make it safe until substantial repairs are carried out.

“We would like to assure residents that the decision to pause the permanent work was made with them in mind. In order to carry out the repairs outside the pub the road will be narrowed for two weeks resulting in bus services being redirected around Penhill. Once the work is complete, a section of road at the junction with Grafton Road will then be resurfaced.

“With the ongoing work at Moonrakers, it was felt that carrying out this work now would cause too much disruption for local people at a time when there is already additional pressure on the road network in the area.

“The improvements to the road surfaces in Penhill will be made shortly after the Moonrakers scheme is complete.”