Birmingham driver's £1k pothole claim for Commonwealth Games ceremony Mini

A Birmingham driver whose classic Mini featured in the Commonwealth Games has accused the council of 'turning its back' after refusing a £1K pothole pay-out. As the world's spotlight shone on the city, James Shaw manoeuvred his bright red car into place to create a Union Jack with others in the opening ceremony.

The 46-year-old, from Stechford, spent a month fixing up his Mini - which had been off the roads for 20 years - to drive at the Alexander Stadium in 2022. But two years after it returned to Birmingham's "terrible" roads, the exhaust was "torn off" by a damaged speedbump, the motorist claims.

And despite him volunteering his classic motor for the ceremony, he says Birmingham City Council has refused to pay compensation. The authority insisted the series of potholes were not there during an August inspection, but promised to repair the speedbump within the year.

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Mr Shaw, who works as a compliance surveyor on city trains, was driving home along Church Lane in Stechford when he claims "at least £1,000" worth of damage was caused on September 28. He told BirminghamLive: "I was hoping for the cost to have it repaired.

"It took me all those years to get it back on the road. The annoying part is that I volunteered for the Commonwealth Games to do that for Birmingham city council and they've just turned their back on it."

Mr Shaw had bought the 'Tango' Mini, complete with the fizzy pop's signature orange hand on the top back in 2001, but it had been off the road for 20 years. His application to take part in the Commonwealth Games ceremony had incentivised him to finally get it fixed.

"I got it fixed just in time for the first rehearsal. It took four weeks to get the car up and running, get an MOT on it, steering checks and everything and get it to the Commonwealth Games," he recalled.

"There was a lot of activity going on, it was an electric atmosphere. Every car had a dancer inside, when everyone started driving off, all the dancers got out and then they'd dance around you. It was pretty cool."

Mr Shaw claims he was driving back home after dropping his partner off at work when there was a "big bang". He explained: "On the way home, I went down Church Lane, there's loads of speedbumps down there and all the roads in that area are terrible for some reason. But this speed bump was probably the worst bit of the road.

"It's just like a big bang and it smashed up the panel. There was a loud noise and then the exhaust came off. I left the exhaust there as it's only round the corner from my house.

"I was a bit annoyed at the time. I was walking down the street with the exhaust pipe in my hand." He made an official complaint to the council a few weeks ago, but was told by the authority the damage was not there during an inspection in August.

"They've said they have the potholes examined every three months, someone goes and checks them and they're saying that in August, the damage wasn't there," he said. "But it's quite clear there's a chunk of speedbump missing all around it.

"It's been like it for a long time, there's about six or seven down there and some of them have already been patched up, and this one hasn't been. They're saying now it's going to be repaired in 12 months."

Birmingham City Council said it could not comment further as there is a "legal claim ongoing through the process."