A Winchester lecturer has warned that potholes on a busy country road into the city are putting "lives at risk."

Kate Spencer, who teaches at Peter Symonds' College, is seeking compensation from Hampshire County Council after driving over a pothole on Sparsholt Road and "shredding" a front tyre.

She says the incident happened when she swerved to avoid one pothole and ended up hitting another.

Now Mrs Spencer has written to the county council asking it to foot the £174 repair bill for a new tyre and wheel.

While an RAC man was attending her car, she witnessed another motorist suffer a similar fate. She says as many as seven cars were stopped by the side of the road the next morning with punctured tyres after driving over potholes.

The business studies lecturer said: "I use this route twice a day and am familiar with the parlous state of the road and the position of most of the potholes.

"But the recent rain once again opened up poorly repaired holes which I believe are not just a hazard to car users but, more importantly, a real danger to bicycles and motorbikes."

The potholes have now been repaired, but Mrs Spencer fears it will only be a temporary measure.

She said: "Traffic has got very, very heavy and this road has become a rat-run to Winchester from Chandler's Ford. That is what is causing the problem. It just can't cope with the volume of traffic and the whole road needs resurfacing."

A Hampshire County Council spokeswoman said all claims for compensation were "judged on individual merit."

When a pothole was reported to the council a roads engineer went out to inspect it. "Remedial action is taken as soon as possible to keep the road in a safe and serviceable condition.

"If the engineers believe the pothole is dangerous then work would be done that day while others may take longer to repair.

"If the potholes are bad enough for engineers to believe lives are at risk they would be assessed as a priority."