Furious residents say they have reached the end of their tether as scores of “crater-sized” potholes continue to damage their cars.

Those living in Bockhanger Lane, Kennington, are calling for urgent repairs to be made to the stretch which is popular with dog walkers.

Kent County Council (KCC) says the unmade route is “not entirely maintained” by the authority as some of the road is privately owned.

But Jacqui Patterson, who has lived in the lane for the last 10 years, says the potholes "are getting worse by the day".

"We have at least 100 craters all along the road; some now are so big they stretch from verge to verge," the mum-of-two said.

“We have moaned and we have groaned but they just do temporary fixes and they don’t always do every hole.

"There are numerous holes down here which are absolutely ruining our vehicles."

The dead-end lane runs alongside the Kingswood Grosvenor Hall activity centre - which was previously Ashford Police Training Centre - and provides a handy cut-through for pedestrians.

But Mrs Patterson, 61, feels many people avoid the route due to its condition.

"Mums with pushchairs can't walk down here easily, and a blind gentleman who used to live here fell over because there are so many potholes," she said.

"All of us who live here have fallen foul of punctures, damage to tracking and broken exhausts.

"We’re at the end of our tether and we would just like to have a proper road surface down here. It would be better for the binmen, delivery drivers and everyone.

“The binmen have threatened not to come down here anymore because it’s so bad, and whenever I have people visiting they always moan about driving down to us.”

Cllr Diccon Spain (Lab), who represents the Bockhanger ward on Ashford Borough Council, says getting the road resurfaced is proving a "challenge".

"We were delighted when the section of lane that is closed off to cars was nicely resurfaced a couple of years ago", he said.

"It is really down to KCC, but the other section has proven difficult over the years.

“There aren’t loads of houses in the lane but I feel it should be a high priority as people use the route to get to work and school."

In response, a KCC spokesman said the authority is “aware of reports of potholes” and has arranged for them to be fixed.

"Bockhanger Lane is not entirely maintained by KCC as some of the road is privately owned – KCC will therefore only carry out repairs on the part of the road it maintains," he said.

“Pothole repairs are prioritised in line with our highways asset management plan, which focuses on fixing those that pose the biggest safety risk first.”

Earlier this year, KCC admitted the county's highways are now in a state of “managed decline”.

Figures released in September showed the authority was missing its targets on dealing with potholes, with KCC sources suggesting that prolonged freezing conditions in the early part of 2023 had created much higher demand than usual.

And in a detailed and “challenging” report released in the summer, external auditors said the authority needs to save £86m in the next financial year to meet its budget.