An e-scooter rider who went viral after hitting a pothole and violently hitting the ground has spoken out about his injuries. CCTV showed George Balkwill, 32, hitting the puddle-filled hole in Oxford before flying over his handlebars outside a pub.

The pothole was around 14cm deep and filled with water, causing Mr Balkwill to assume that it was just a puddle. The 32-year-old said comments he had seen online, which have been seen hundreds of thousands of times, suggesting that he had rode into an "obvious" pothole were "frustrating". He told the BBC: "That CCTV camera is about 15ft (4.6m) in the air. From road level that pothole... looked like a puddle."

Patrons and members of staff of The Red Lion pub in Old Marston, Oxford rushed to Mr Balkwill's aid following the incident which has left the rider with a "painful and slow" recovery and a "disfigured" face.

He added when talking to the Sun: "I remember vividly staring at the tarmac, unable to move while hearing cars passing by, the unmistakable taste of blood in my mouth and the real panic I felt about the extent of my injuries. It was only once I got to A&E that I realised how serious my accident was and how lucky I am that it wasn't much worse."

Mr Balkwill was left with severe injuries to his chin, lips, nose and forehead, with his recovery expected to take several months.

He has now hit out at the state of Britain's roads as local councils across the country struggle financially.

He added: "I'm told that the council have filled in the pothole on Tuesday and that it has been there in such a bad state for a very long time without repair.

"It does beg the question: is this what it takes to get a pothole fixed - a visit to the trauma unit?"

An Oxford City Council spokesman said the pothole had been scheduled for repair at the time of the crash but had "deteriorated since it was first inspected".

Councillor Nigel Chapman, cabinet member for citizen focused services and council companies, said: "We fully recognise the frustration residents feel about the condition of some of the city's roads.

"This particular pothole was inspected by [council facilities management company] ODS on 3 February.

"At that time, it was assessed as a category two defect, which carries a 28-day repair timeframe."