Drivers and cyclists living in an Oxford suburb say that they have to put up with the worst road in the city.

The potholes and cracks along North Way, in Barton, are so bad that drivers claim they regularly risk accidents as they swerve to avoid them to prevent their vehicles being damaged.

Barry Rogers, 38, of North Way, delivers milk along his road in the morning.

He said: "It is pretty dreadful. I'm the local milkman and if I go over one of the holes I lose bottles off the back.

"I definitely think it's dangerous. Cars come down here too fast and swerve suddenly when they see the holes.

On Tuesday, someone in a car ran into my float and he said he said he just couldn't help it because he was trying to avoid the potholes."

Rachael Walding, 30, also of North Way, a school nursery nurse, said that she does not feel safe cycling along the road.

She said: "I cycle up and down it to get to work and I have to swerve to avoid the holes and with the traffic going very fast down it. I feel like I'm in danger of being run over."

It is not just the risk of accidents that frustrates drivers but the damage the potholes cause to their vehicles.

Rikki Oak, 47, a truck driver, of Barton Village Road, said: "It's an absolute disgrace. Last week, my daughter was driving down the road with my wife; there was a bus coming the other way and they couldn't help going into a pothole because the road is so narrow, and it just ripped the tyre apart."

Craig Townsend, 20, of Stowford Road, said: "I went into a pothole yesterday and there was a huge bang. It can't be healthy for the shock absorbers and wheel balance on your car."

Alex Hollingsworth, ward councillor for Barton and chairman of the city council's highways and traffic committee, said: "North Way is diabolical and must be the worst road in Oxford, if not the county.

"The basic problem is that the road was not designed to take anything like the amount of traffic it does. It's falling to pieces now and absolutely lethal.

"The county council has not put any money whatsoever into roads on estates for the past few years, but now it has earmarked 140,000 to repair roads in Barton. It's clear that this dreadful road has to be the top priority."

Council highways engineer Colin Carritt said: "There are a number of urban roads across the county in desperate need of repairs but the funds have not been available in the past and they're only just beginning to come through now."