THE council chief responsible for roads suffered two burst tyres after driving through a pothole.

Buckinghamshire County Council leader Councillor David Shakespeare lost two tyres on his BMW while driving along Maxwell Road, Beaconsfield as the recent snow began to thaw.

Yet he insisted the incident was not related to his decision to pump in an immediate £2.7m to tackle potholes created and opened up by the cold snap.

He said: “I’m quite surprised that people think I would be immune from driving through potholes.

“There are thousands of potholes left by the snow and everybody in Buckinghamshire must have driven through a dozen at least.”

He said: “Nobody goes ahead of me filling in potholes.”

The damage happened as Cllr Shakespeare was driving home to Hammersley Lane, High Wycombe from BCC HQ County Hall in Aylesbury.

The Conservative said he managed to ‘crawl’ home at 15mph.

Asked what his reaction was, he said: “I wouldn’t like to say. I was just hoping the rear one wasn’t going to burst as well.

“I suppose acceptance, that it has happened to thousands of other people.”

Yet he said he was dismayed by drivers who claim against the council for damaged cars.

Cllr Shakespeare said: “I can never understand why there are so many people who blame the council for the potholes.

“The ice is to blame for the potholes – the council has to rush round flling them in afterwards.”

A decision to put in an immediate £2m to tackle the potholes was made hours before the incident, he said.

And a move to reverse plans to slash next year’s pothole budget in half, by £678,000, was made the previous week, he said. The decision was announced on Monday.

Councillor Valerie Letheren, cabinet member for transportation, said she was ‘delighted’ by the move to re-instate the cash.

She said: “Every penny is needed. The roads are in such a state.”