Video: Scary overtake shocks councillors on pothole strewn North Devon road

Two North Devon councillors were lost for words while filming to highlight the dangers of potholes on a local road when a biker pulled an unexpected overtaking manoeuvre.

Devon county councillors Frank Biederman and Ed Tyldesley were creating a short video on a stretch of the B3233 between Barnstaple and Torrington to flag up dangerous potholes, but said they also witnessed ‘absolutely scary’ high speeds despite the battered road surface.

In the video, later posted on Facebook, Cllr Biederman is shown at the side of the road highlighting the situation when a motorbike overtakes a car at speed through a series of potholes.

The councillor for Fremington Rural said afterwards: “I stumbled over my words for a second when that happened but it just proves how vulnerable motorcyclists can be.

“This road is national speed limit but people need to take note of the conditions and drive much slower.”

Above: The car and bike after the overtake in a particularly pothole-riddled location. Credit: Frank Biederman

Above: A big pothole on the B3233 between Barnstaple and Torrington. Credit: Ed Tyldesley

The two councillors had been out checking the size of potholes on the B3233 to see if they met the criteria for being repaired by the county council.

They are also flagging up other ‘dangerous’ potholes to the council which do not meet the size criteria but are on blind bends, causing people to swerve and potentially cause an accident.

Cllr Biederman said the good news was the county was putting an extra £15million into the 2026/27 budget for repairing potholes and £4m on highways drainage improvement, gully clearance and other preventative work.

But he added that with decades of underfunding on road repairs, the council could spend its entire £2billion annual budget on roads and still would not be able to fill in all the potholes.

“We have around 50 gangs out there constantly working on it but every day there is another 500 or 600 reports,” he said.

Above: North Devon county councillors Frank Biederman and Ed Tyldesley had been inspecting potholes on the B3233. Credit: Frank Biederman/Ed Tyldesley

Cllr Tyldesley, who represents Chulmleigh and Landkey, said vehicles were bigger, heavier and faster now and caused more damage to the roads.

He said residents were ‘absolutely right’ to be frustrated about the state of the roads but it could not be reversed in a year. He said an additional £10m would be put into the county council’s budget each year for the next five years to pay for road repairs.

He added: “We are determined to turn the tide, but we can’t pretend that there is a quick fix. Rebuilding a network of this size takes sustained investment, preventative maintenance and a fairer funding settlement for counties like Devon.

“That is the honest position and it is the one we will continue to make to government while getting on with the job locally.”

The council has said it is currently dealing with an exceptionally high level of potholes and carriageway defects across Devon’s road network, caused by an extremely wet January as well as storms and several episodes of freezing temperatures.