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A cyclist has been driven potty by an eight-month battle with Coventry City Council over its refusal to pay for damage caused to his bike.

Steve Frazer, 44, from Wyken, claims that a three-lane pothole, at junction one of the Coventry ring road with Foleshill Road, caused more than £130 worth of damage to his bicycle during one of his daily commutes to work.

But, after contacting the council to seek compensation, he was met with a steadfast refusal to pay for the repairs to his yellow Carrera road bike.

Following the accident in January, Mr Frazer took matters into his own hands and decided to withhold council tax until the matter was addressed. But he eventually backed down after receiving tax demands from the council and pressure from his worried wife.

Mr Frazer, who works with adults with learning disabilities, said: “They are just quoting rules at me, they say because they checked it 30 days before they have no responsibility to me.

“I couldn’t avoid the pothole, if I had gone left instead of right I would have been killed by the cars, but swerving right meant I couldn’t avoid it.

“The only option available to me now is legal action, I did stop paying my council tax, but I had so many threatening letters my wife made me reinstate the direct debit.

“Having to pay that amount of money to fix my bike means I have paid more by cycling than I would have by driving to work. I had to pay for the damage to be fixed myself as it was impossible to ride.

“I have paid my council tax for 15 years here now, I have a poorly paid job and I just feel shafted.”

He added the claim had now become a ‘matter of principle’ and vowed to pursue the matter through the courts – even if it ultimately ended up costing him more than the original claim.

He said: “I won’t stop until I get the money back. I will go to every possible avenue. By the time I have finished it will have cost the council £200 to £300 just to say no. They will spend more by saying no rather than just saying ‘oh look at this poor chap’.

“It’s all about the principle, it’s a relatively small amount of money in the grand scheme of things. It’s not how you treat people who are trying to do things right.”

Mr Frazer claims to have sent almost 10 pieces of correspondence over the matter and has provided images of the pothole before and after the repairs. He also provided photographs of the damage to the bicycle which included a buckled rear wheel that caused the brakes to rub.

A spokesman for Coventry City Council said: “We are not liable for any claims for damage if we have maintained an appropriate inspection regime and have responded where there is a need for repairs promptly and we believe this is the situation in Mr Frazer’s case.

“While we sympathise with Mr Frazer, clearly we cannot set the precedent of paying for claims where we do not believe we are liable. Claimants always have the option of proceeding to the Small Claims Court should they not agree with our decision.”