A Tyre-wrecking pothole on a busy country lane has been giving motorists a rough ride.

The crater measuring five feet by three feet and four inches deep appeared on the Cublington Road in Wing.

Witnesses working nearby reported at least nine damaged cars between 9am and 6pm on Monday all limping to the side of the road with burst tyres, severed wheels or snapped suspensions.

Sarah Cranwell, of Cranwell Kitchens in Wing, had watched the carnage all day. She said: "We reported the pothole to the council first thing in the morning. But no-one came. The huge hole sat just past a bend and drivers were not seeing it. My biggest fear was that there would be a nasty accident."

Mrs Merrick, of Northall, was on her way home from work in Bicester when she hit the pothole in her Ford Fiesta. It was dark by then.

She said: "I saw it at the last minute and there was a van coming the other way. I went down it and had a flat tyre. My main fear was that there would be an accident if it wasn't fixed quickly."

I went to the scene and phoned Buckinghamshire County Council from the road a about 5.20pm.

There were three cars lined up waiting for rescue at the time of my arrival. An operator for the Transport for Buckinghamshire office said they would be out to fill the hole as soon as possible.

The LBO received a call the next morning from the council to say that the pothole had been filled at 8.30pm that night. A council spokesman said: "If people report it we guarantee to get it done within 24 hours.

"We have an issue with potholes at the moment and we urge people to report them and give us a really good location. We are aware of the problem and we are doing our best to fix it – bear with us."

The council has released £2 million from its cash reserves to deal with the potholes.

County leader David Shakespeare said: "Exceptional times call for exceptional measures, and this is such a time, so I will be transferring £2 million from our reserves so we can get our roads fit for purpose as soon as possible.

"We are in a position to act quickly because we have been prudent in maintaining a good level of reserves, which we can call upon in times of need.

"These repairs must be carried out as a matter of urgency. The longer we wait, the worse potholes will become. It is imperative that we get these repairs under way as quickly as possible. Six extra highways maintenance gangs were drafted in earlier in January, bringing the total to 15 gangs out on the roads, repairing 25 to 30 potholes a day – that's around 2000 potholes repaired per week across the county.

"This extra money will enable us to increase both the quantity and quality of these repairs."

Val Letheren, Buckinghamshire's cabinet member for transportation, said: "Unfortunately for us and our motorists, the conditions we've had to suffer are perfect for creating potholes – it's been a cycle of freeze, thaw, freeze.

"We knew that we would we have a problem with potholes, so it is vital that we take action to resolve this."