A MAN whose cherished car was practically written off when he hit a raised manhole cover is suing Essex County Council for compensation.

Kevin Bowen, of Plains Road, Little Totham, wants the county council to accept liability for the damage to his 21-year-old MG Montego Turbo, which was damaged in Beckingham Road, Great Totham.

Rodney Bass, the local county councillor, had already reported the manhole cover to county highways officials after his own car was damaged on it.

The problem has now been fixed, but Mr Bowen, 51, claims if Mr Bass had not got involved, nothing would have been done.

He said: “The county council sent an inspector out, who deemed it not to be dangerous.

“Subsequently, a number of other vehicles struck it, including Rodney Bass’s. They didn’t even put up warning signs.”

Mr Bowen was driving to Forrester Park Golf Club, Great Totham, when his car hit the cover and was so badly damaged, it had to be towed to a garage.

He added: “Oil was leaking profusely by the time I got there. If I’d travelled even another mile, I would have blown the engine.

“I’ve had the car from new and kept it in pristine condition. It only does 2,000 miles a year, which is why I’m all the more upset about it being damaged in this way.”

Mr Bowen said he had been unable to find a replacement sump for the car because of its age.

The only option had been to get it welded, a job for which he had yet to get the bill. The council has written to tell Mr Bowen he has no grounds for a claim.

He said: “I fully expected the council to own up and say it was at fault.

“The Highways Act means nothing to me, but that’s what it’s hiding behind. It doesn’t consider the road was dangerous.

“We’re not talking about a lot of money, but that’s not the point. It’s the principle. The car could have been written off, through no fault of my own.”

Michael Page, spokesman for Essex County Council, declined to comment, describing the dispute as “private matters between the individual and ourselves.”