Nicole Wyatt, 27, pictured, was driving her VW Lupo on 10 October when it suddenly caught fire, destroying the car.
Having settled the claim for the vehicle with her insurers, Miss Wyatt thought she could get on with finding a new one – but had not reckoned with the road repair bill too.
'I was really shocked, I did not expect it. I mean, after all, this was an accident, I did not set out to damage the road,' she said. 'And isn't this what road tax is for?
'I do not think they would do this in the UK. It is an enormous sum of money and they have asked for a cheque ASAP.
'Also, they said the damage was to a section of road of eight square metres – you could flatten a Lupo out with a rolling pin and it would not cover that size.
'Plus they said it would take eight hours to fix, that's one square metre an hour, which is not exactly a great work rate.
'I had already sorted the claim with the insurers and have now had to start another one and have to go through the process all over again.'
