He is also a motorcyclist and knows about the perils of potholes.

He has seen damage to tyres, wheels, steering columns and the suspension systems of cars.

There are, he said, three main reasons: volume of traffic, bad weather, and digging work.

George took the Evening Times on a whistlestop tour of the city, revealing some shocking examples of potholed roads. Every 200 yards or so, we encountered the bump of his van going over a pothole or rutted surface.

He said: "This is the norm. You spend your day trying to avoid them."

l John Knox Street, near Duke Street, Townhead: A mass of collapsed patches, and small craters in a section of street with up to 10 gas manholes.

George said: "This one has been here for a long time. It has been patched up time and time again and has started to wear.

"The only answer is to take up this whole section of road and redo it. If you hit something like that then that's going to take out the tyre or even a wheel.

"It can knock out steering alignment and do a lot of costly damage."

l Carrick Street, off Broomielaw, Anderston: The centre of the street was one long stretch of ruts and holes, some as deep as 3-4ins.

George said: "No work has been done here for a long time. It is a side road so it's low on the list of priorities.

"It has been patched over and left to deteriorate. It's been like this for so long there are patches on the patches. You could do a lot of damage hitting this."

l The junction of Woodville Street and Copland Road, Ibrox: Exposed cobbles, collapsed patchwork and deep holes in a busy road junction.

George said: "It has been repaired and the surface has started to break up again - a weather-related problem.

"The whole junction needs to be done for it to be an effective repair. There is a lot of traffic here."

Elsewhere on Woodville Street, there is a 4in deep crater.

George: "The patch has broken up. You could come off your bike if you hit this. It is not obvious at night."

lMaxwell Road, Pollokshields: Another crater in the road, deep enough for our photographer to stand up his mobile phone in.

George said: "Again it's the road surface repair starting to break up. This used to be a busy road but it's still used as a bit of a rat run."

l Coplaw Street, between Pollokshaws Road and Victoria Street, South Side: A through road which is a mass of holes and craters from end to end.

George said: ""There are deep craters and potholes as soon as you turn on to it.

"It's needing the whole strecth of road done."

IAIN LUNDY