A man who saved for years to hire a Ferrari for his wife’s birthday was left with a £389 bill after a pothole burst the supercar’s tyres in Holmer Green.

Dave Everitt, an account manager from Beaconsfield, hired a Ferrari California for wife Jane to drive around for five days as a birthday present on May 14.

After picking the car up, Mrs Everitt was driving down Watchet Lane at 10.45am on her way to refuel the £150,000 convertible, when the deep pothole ruptured one of the tyres.

Mr Everitt, 54, told of his disappointment that his wife’s present was spoilt.

He said: “I had saved up for what felt like forever to hire this car for my wife. She has been a Ferrari nut for a long time and this was supposed to be a treat.

“We weren’t going very fast because it was raining and the cars in front were driving slowly because of it.

“The line of cars covered the pothole and as the hole appeared, filled with water, she drove into it and the depth was too much for the tyre and it burst.

“The onboard computer told her not to drive the car any further, but we had no choice but to drive really slowly to the petrol station and luckily, we saw a garage across the road.

“My wife was very stressed out because of the damage. It took the wind out of her sails.”

The Ferrari tyres need to be replaced in pairs, so the worried couple had to wait until 5pm for the replacements to arrive.

Mr Everitt said: “By 5.30pm we were back on the road, although £389 lighter with an unexpected expense.    

“It was just awful because it was supposed to be a birthday present. You have to do something mad on your 50th birthday and she has always loved Ferraris, it was something to tick off the bucket list.

“Instead, we wasted a day replacing the tyres and had to spend hundreds of pounds. It’s a lot of money when you don’t have it. I had to find that money to pay for it, but I couldn’t let it spoil my wife’s present.”

Having returned to the scene to take pictures of the road, Mr Everitt said he wouldn’t be surprised if other drivers had damaged their cars because of the same hole.  

“It was such a huge hole. You could see cars having to slow down because of it.

“You could hear the sound of many cars thumping hard as they hit the hole, I would not be surprised if a number of cars suffered that day.

“It was ridiculous. There are so many potholes around at the moment, something needs to be done.”

To make matters worse, the online system for reporting the hole was broken when Mr Everitt tried to report it.

“I was just getting so annoyed because I wanted something done about it but the system wouldn’t work. Now I have a daunting incident report form to fill out and send to Transport for Bucks.”

The pothole in Watchet Lane has since been filled in.

A Transport for Bucks spokesman, Dan Elworthy, said: “Whilst this incident is unfortunate, we are unable to comment on an individual case where a claim maybe made.

“Incidents involving defects of the highway can be complex matters and since incidents can occur due to many unforeseen reasons, it is not always the case that someone is to blame.

“The presence of a ‘pothole’ does not automatically make the Highway Authority or their contractors liable for any damage sustained.

“The Council or its insurers will only pay compensation on claims where it is established that the Council has failed to properly discharge its responsibilities as the highway authority.”