A WOOD Farm street is being brought back up to scratch after work started to repair “horrendous” potholes.

Residents say deep potholes have plagued Leiden Road for years despite a number of attempts to fix them.

But Oxford City Council last week started work to resurface the craters in a £8,500 job.

Pete Bonney, of Nuffield Road, last night welcomed the work as he said the holes had been a problem for more than five years.

He said many drivers had to avoid the street to escape damage to their cars.

He said: “It is about time. There was a long line of them. They had been there for years.

“It now should be easier to travel and there will be less noise for the people who live in the road.

“It must have caused foundation vibrations let alone the noise. It is a busy road.”

The 74-year-old added: “We have got a good estate and things like that bring it down.”

The work started last Monday and is expected to finish this week.

Leiden Road resident Rhea Debanks, 45, said: “It has been horrendous. When you hit those holes it hurts your back.”

She said it might take more to solve the problem, adding: “It is a road that is used a lot. It is nice to see them being repaired but they need to resurface the whole road.”

Liz Brighouse, Labour Oxfordshire County Council member for Churchill and Lye Valley, said she was glad to see the road repairs.

She said: “It has been a problem for years. It has been terrible.

“There have been some massive potholes and people have been trying for ages to get it resurfaced.

“The road was uneven and unsafe. There were a lot of potholes and they were very deep. Over the last couple of winters it has suffered.”

“They did some patching-up work but it looks like now they are going to do a good job of it.

“The things that really need to be done are getting done.”