text: The widow of a cyclist killed after hitting a pothole during a charity ride from Land's End to John O'Groats has won a six-figure payout from the council who failed to mend the road. Martyn Uzzell, 51, died instantly after he was thrown into path of a car by a four-inch deep pothole. Just a month before the tragedy, the council sent workers to inspect the hole after police said it was a hazard. But it was decided that immediate repairs were not necessary. Kate Uzzell has received a six-figure payout after her husband Martyn (both pictured) was killed during a charity cycle ride when he was thrown into the path of a four-inch deep pothole . Tragedy: Experienced cyclist Mr Uzzell, 51, was riding from Land's End to John O'Groats for Macmillan Cancer Support when he died . Coroner Rob Turnbull told Mr Uzzell's inquest last year that there was ‘no doubt whatsoever that the condition of the road on that occasion was the cause of the incident’. He said the pothole, which surrounded a roadside drain on the A65 near Giggleswick, North Yorkshire, had ‘existed for some time prior to the accident’. A month before the tragedy in 2011, a traffic policeman saw the hole and his control room alerted their council counterparts, but the alert was not passed on to the highway inspection team. In the following weeks, the council inspected the road twice but failed to take any action before Mr Uzzell cycled along it with two friends raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. He was flung from his bicycle by the pothole, landing in the path of a car and suffering fatal head injuries. His widow Kate Uzzell, 49, from Clevedon, North Somerset, has now reached an out of court settlement with North Yorkshire County Council. However the local authority is still refusing to apologise for the state of the road in the lead up to the cyclist's death. A coroner previously ruled that the state of the  A65 (pictured), near Giggleswick, North Yorkshire, was 'the cause of the incident' After the inquest last year, Mrs Uzzell said the death of her husband, an experienced cyclist and service engineer, was preventable. She said: 'It is simply disgraceful that a pothole on such a busy road was allowed to go unrepaired. This should not have happened. 'My husband was an experienced cyclist and was out doing what he loved, while raising money for charities close to his heart, but it has cost him his life. The council inspected the pothole in the weeks before Mr Uzzell's (pictured) death but decided it did not need repairing . 'I am told a policeman had reported the pothole on two occasions to the council but nothing was done. The road was also inspected monthly as it is an A-road, but despite the danger being recorded in May it wasn't repaired. 'To make it worse there was another inspection in June carried out in a vehicle going at 25mph down the other side of the three lane carriageway. 'No attempt was made to check an already identified defect, how can this be acceptable? 'Ultimately my husband lost his life because the council did not repair this pothole, despite being warned it was a potential danger, and I would like to know why something wasn't done. 'I do not want anyone else to lose a loved one because the roads have not been properly maintained,' she added. The Crown Prosecution Service concluded the failings by the council should not lead to a corporate manslaughter case or any other charges. Mrs Uzzell said the decision had left her devastated: 'My husband has died yet it seems no one is being held to account as to how this was allowed to happen. 'I have lost my best friend and soul mate, a lovely person, who bought joy to my life, I am now lost and lonely without Martyn. 'And it isn't just me. Martyn's entire family is also suffering the loss of someone very special.' A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire County Council said: 'Whilst North Yorkshire County Council accepts no liability for the tragic death of Mr Uzzell, the authority has appreciated that this is a sensitive matter and has therefore reached a settlement with Mr Uzzell’s widow, to avoid prolonged involvement in further litigation. 'The county council operates a highways maintenance programme that includes a robust system of inspection. 'We continue to maintain and review that inspection regime to ensure the safety of routes for the travelling public.’
target: Martyn Uzzell died instantly when a 4in pothole threw him into path of a car .
  Cyclist was riding from Land's End to John O'Groats for charity in 2011 .
  His widow Kate has now been awarded a six-figure payout from the council .
  But North Yorkshire County Council still refuses to apologise despite coroner ruling the state of the road was to blame .