AN OLD Basing man was lucky to escape injury after his car skidded on ice and collided with a bollard at a notorious flooding spot.

James Rowe, 28, lost control of his Honda Civic at the bottom of Pelton Road, Basingstoke after hitting black ice at 7am today.

He smashed into two wooden bollards, which ripped into his front left wheel.

The G4S employee complained that the county council had not gritted the busy access road to the Sainsbury’s depot despite freezing overnight conditions and a large pool of standing water.

The puddle, which has reached 50 metres in length quite regularly, has been the subject of The Gazette’s Puddlewatch, as it is outside The Gazette offices.

Mr Rowe said: “I phoned the council after what happened and they said because it is a small road they did not have to grit it. The puddle on this road is ridiculous, I have worked here six years and it is always there when it rains. This road is a blatant hazard as it is. They have to do something about it.”

Mr Rowe said he felt lucky that he escaped injury.

He said: “Thank god the bollards were there, otherwise I would have hit the lamppost and I might not be here now.

“This is now going to cost me a small fortune, I have £6,000 of car that is not going to work.”

Police attended the incident and later on today, Hampshire County Council highways engineers assessed the road, and the standing water was drained by a tanker.

Several warning signs have been installed on Pelton Road warning drivers of ice and flooding.