Anger is mounting in the town over the state of Westbury’s roads and the growing number of dangerous potholes.

The issue was aggravated by the wet winter and now there have been calls for Wiltshire Council to act. There are also concerns that Wiltshire Council have ‘cut corners’ with temporary repairs that only last a few days.

New Westbury Mayor, cllr Christine Mitchell said, “The potholes are atrocious in Westbury, something needs to be done. The potholes can’t always be avoided, it is an accident waiting to happen. If there is water in the potholes then it is difficult for cyclists or motorcyclists to know how deep the hole is. I can’t say it is only Wiltshire though, it seems to be bad in other counties as well.”

Wiltshire Council had 40 percent more potholes reported in the first two months of 2014 compared to 2013. This equates to more than 2,600 carriageway defects compared to around 1,900 last year. This led to the council investing an extra £250,000 at the start of 2014 to combat the problem.

Wiltshire councillor Terry Chivers says he believes that Wiltshire Council cut corners when trying to fix the potholes. He said, “I’m receiving complaints that these temporary repairs are only lasting a few days and often only a few hours. It seems to me and to most people, that it must be much easier and cheaper to do a proper job than bodge it.”

There is some good news on the horizon, though, after Wiltshire Council was awarded an extra £3million to repair potholes. This is part of the £168million Pothole Repair Fund the government has allocated towards fixing more than three million potholes across the UK to make roads safer and smoother for motorists, cyclists and other road users.

However, the priorities for pothole repair have not yet been set and so it is unclear if Westbury will be benefitting from the Pothole Repair Fund.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Council said, “This money will be used to repair and resurface the worst affected stretches of road. Wiltshire Council are spending a huge amount of money on roads but the full programme for this has not yet been set.

To report a pothole or a street problem to your council please CLICK HERE

In the past few weeks there has been a few reported thefts from tents on the Biker circuit.

It appears that the perpetrators follow drunk people back to their tents, wait until they fall asleep, pretend to have an argument outside the victims tent, then one enters the tent and routes around to find cameras and wallets, while the other keeps watch. These unscrupulous thieves are mainly looking for top of the range phones and money, as others have found wallets the following day on the field with cards still inside.

It seems they are watching people as they takes photos at the event with a 'fancy phone camera' and then target these people when they head off to their tents, await for them to 'pass out' intoxicated and then whilst they are in a deep sleep, enter their tents to steal their mobiles and wallets. Another 'technique' is to shake a tent and call out something like 'Mark are you in there?'

Pete Walker, organiser of The Farmyard Party said "The best and safe way to store your phone a purse/wallet is at the bottom of your sleeping bag, simply throw them down to the end of the bag and the thief wont risk putting him/her down there to get at your stuff. Never leave wallets, purses, phones or money in your tent whilst you’re away from it. If you can, meet your camping neighbours and watch out for each other."

There will be lockers for hire at this years Farmyard @ a £5, which will easily take six peoples mobiles and wallets.

We urge people to be more vigilant until these pesky thieves stop targeting Motorcycle events!

Road of Bones Expedition departs today from London‏

Today is the day that the 14 riders and support vehicle depart from London's Ace café heading 28,500 kilometres East with final destination Magadan, Eastern Russia. Along the way they will pass through 16 countries, ride through all weather conditions and experience some of the best adventure motorcycling in the world.

Compass Expeditions founder Mick McDonald is undertaking this challenging ride for the third time as ride leader and for most it is an opportunity to ride the Road of Bones which has long been a part of Motorcycle Culture due to the previous expeditions of the likes of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. For the 2014 Expedition, the group will be accompanied by award-winning documentary filmmaker Robin Newell of Thought Films, who will be producing a DVD of this epic journey.

We'd also like to thank Touratech, BMW Motorrad, Motorworks UK for their support of this Expedition and of course Simon Pavey for support and Rider Training at Off Road Skills in Wales.

Also thanks to Charley Boorman who has been doing a wonderful job of promoting Adventure Motorcycling worldwide and who we've enjoyed the pleasure of working with over the last couple of years.

Compass Expeditions Motorcycle Tours and Rentals

Compass Expeditions London to Magadan - Road of Bones

Also follow along with the journey

The Pata Honda team will re-assemble in the United Kingdom this weekend (23-25 May) for round five of the 2014 World Superbike Championship at the Donington Park circuit to the north-east of Birmingham.

After a home round for the team at Assen in the Netherlands last month, title partners Pata enjoyed their own home event at Imola’s fourth round in Italy last time out. Now it’s the turn of Honda Motor Europe – based at Langley near London – to enjoy its own home round, along with the team’s British riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, who lives just 30 minutes drive to the north of the historic 4.023km Donington Park circuit.

Haslam has enjoyed two World Superbike podiums in recent years at Donington including a second place in 2009 during an earlier spell on Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Derbyshire rider will be more determined than ever to provide those kind results that have so far eluded him since his return to Honda in 2013.

Despite valiant efforts to the contrary in practice sessions, 30-year-old Haslam was unable to race at Donington Park last season after breaking his left leg in a practice crash at Assen just four weeks earlier.

Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea, meanwhile, will be seeking to extend his stunning run of recent form which has seen the 27-year-old British rider take his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to podium finishes in five of the last six races, including victories in the last three with a dominant double in the last round at Imola.

That run of results has given Rea a four-point lead at the top of the championship table, but the Northern Irishman has been on the Donington podium just once in his World Superbike career. That was a visit to the top step following his victory in race two in 2012.

This weekend Sam Lowes heads to the historic Le Mans circuit in France for round five of the Moto2 championship, The Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.

Sam will be looking to make amends following the previous round at Jerez where he unfortunately twice crashed out of the race, after a weekend plagued with tyre issues. The young Brit has shown huge potential during his maiden season in the Moto2 championship, including a sixth place at the opening round in Qatar.

Le Mans will be another new circuit for Sam, who already during the last four rounds has learnt three new circuits; with Jerez being the only one he had previously ridden at.

Sam Lowes

I’m really looking forward to the weekend and to ride at another new circuit. The team are working really hard to improve and I’m hoping for a strong weekend. I’m excited to get out there for FP1.

The Monster Energy Grand Prix de France takes place on Sunday 18 May, starting at 1220 French time, 1120 British Summer Time.

For news, blogs and updates follow Sam’s official Twitter @samlowes11 and visit www.samlowes.com