A motorcyclist who struck a pothole fears one of the hundreds scattered on the county’s roads could one day throw him from his bike and seriously hurt or kill him.

Steve Matthews smashed a crater along the rut-ridden Monk’s Hill in Smarden near Ashford damaging his vehicle and leaving him with a hefty bill.

The incident buckled the wheels of Mr Matthews's bike, leaving him with £500 worth of repairs.

But the 69-year-old, who lives in the village, is scared the poor state of many of the county’s roads could be fatal and are far more perilous for bikers compared to car drivers.

He only began pursuing his bike licence in the last year after rediscovering his father’s old machine from the 1950s - a BSA B31 - and purchasing the exact same bike having traced the owner.

Since learning to ride, Mr Matthews says his eyes have been opened to the dangers of damaged roads and is calling for rural roads to be better maintained.

Mr Matthews told KentOnline: “The issue with potholes is you have to avoid them as much as possible. They can be dangerous, but sometimes you can’t see the severity until you are on top of them.

“The council doesn’t seem to perform any regular maintenance anymore; waiting until it has to do a patch job or completely resurface an area, but you’ve got to maintain something to stop it from going bad.

“I’ve been driving for more than 50 years and never lost a wheel until the last two years.”

Comparing bikers to car owners, Mr Matthews added there is additional safety when travelling in a car.

“Potholes are an annoying expense in a car, but you are safe in your metal box; on a motorbike, you face a real risk of loss of life.”

Despite slowing to under 30mph on the 50mph road, Mr Matthews was still nearly thrown from his bike after encountering the potholes.

This follows news last month that Kent County Council (KCC) was set to spend £8.5 million on repairing and resurfacing roads over the next two years.

However, some furious residents felt forgotten as their town’s “terrible” roads were not included in the multi-million-pound “pothole blitz”.

In a statement responding to Mr Matthews’ incident, a Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: “We know how disruptive and frustrating it can be for the travelling public when potholes are left untreated, which is why we are focused on repairing faults discovered on our highway network.

"Highway Inspectors and Highway Stewards do mark sites for works, and the priority for the works will be assessed in line with our risk-based approach.

“Should a member of the public identify a road defect as causing damage to their vehicle, then a claim can be submitted. The process for doing this is available on the council’s website."