Transport secretary's car damaged by pothole

A local authority has hit back at criticism from the government minister responsible for roads in England after her car was damaged by a pothole.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, had been driving her Mini Cooper on the B4437 outside Burford, in Oxfordshire, last month when her vehicle struck the pothole.

Explaining the incident, Alexander joked that she "thought that the astronauts on Artemis II might have seen a similar-size crater" during their recent voyage around the Moon.

Responding to the criticism, the Liberal Democrat-run Oxfordshire County Council accused the government of "starving" local authorities of funds to tackle the issue.

Andrew Gant, the council's transport chief said: "We will continue to deliver in the face of Labour cuts, as we do in so many policy areas."

"Oxfordshire is safer, cleaner and greener under this Lib Dem administration," he added.

In response, the Department for Transport said: "We're investing a record £7.3bn to fix Britain's roads, and setting tough new standards to ensure drivers see the difference."

Alexander had been travelling through west Oxfordshire, returning to her Swindon South constituency after a Labour fundraising event, when she hit the pothole.

It is believed her car had to be loaded onto a recovery truck to complete the journey.

Oxfordshire was allocated £34m to tackle potholes this year.

Earlier this year, the government launched a new mapping tool to enable drivers in England to see how local authorities are tackling roads riddled with potholes.

Announcing the tool, Alexander said drivers had been left to pay the price "for too long".

The ranking system currently rates Oxfordshire as 'amber' on its traffic light judging system.