Am inquest into the death of 43-year-old Andrew Freakley has heard how the biker died after hitting a pothole that Stoke-on-Trent Council had been aware of for four months.

The father-of-two was thrown into an oncoming car after hitting a crater in the road on 25 September last year as he rode his Yamaha motorcycle to his home in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent on the 40mph Park Hall Road, says the Daily Telegraph.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council was aware of the pothole Freakley hit after an inspection on 7 May and it was flagged again after a second inspection on 11 September but was not deemed urgent and was only fixed 154 days later on 8 October, 13 days after the incident.

Lindsey Tonks, the North Staffordshire coroner, said that Freakley was unable to save himself when his bike became unsteady.

She said:

“Andy was an experienced rider. He was used to riding that particular motorcycle and he was used to that stretch of road, but unfortunately as a result of the motorcycle becoming destabilised, Andy was unable to correct it and it led to the outcome.”

The coroner said she was “completely satisfied” that the collision with the Volvo driver was “a completely unavoidable situation”.

“I’m satisfied from the evidence that this was a completely unavoidable situation for the Volvo driver who had taken all measures he could do to avoid the collision but was unable to do so,” she said.

Despite riding at around 50mph, above the legal speed limit on the road, Ms Tonks said Freakley was not “driving dangerously.”

“It was a simple overtake manoeuvre but his decision to perform this manoeuvre was not consistent with the Highway Code,” she said.

“I’m satisfied that the presence of the pothole contributed to Andy’s death along with his speed at the time and his decision to perform this manoeuvre,” she continued.

Nearly half of the local road network is littered with potholes, according to research by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).

Their report estimated that fixing every pothole in the UK would cost £18.6bn and take 12 years. The situation has been described as a “national disgrace.”

A spokesperson for Stoke-on-Trent City Council said:

“This was a tragic incident and our sympathies are with Mr Freakley’s family and friends.

 “As the inquest heard, this pothole was inspected in May 2025. It was assessed as being in a lower risk category, because of its size and position in an area marked with diagonal lines between the two main carriageways.

“We have a strict risk-based approach to scheduling repairs, in order to make the best use of limited resources. The pothole involved in this incident was repaired in October 2025.

“Over the past two years we have significantly increased the number of potholes and defects we have repaired in Stoke-on-Trent. But we know there is much more to be done, and that our roads – like those in other parts of the country – are suffering from years of underinvestment by national government. We have recently diverted additional resources into road repairs and will continue to prioritise this issue.”

(Picture: Paul Hutton/Highways News)