Kathleen Ritchie, of Bruce Crescent, was driving home along the town's Fairweather Avenue earlier this year when she hit the speed bump - on a road privately-owned by development company Deveron Homes.

The collision left her with a bill for £150, which she claims could have been avoided had the bumps not been so high.

Mrs Ritchie told the Buchan Observer that after informing Deveron Homes about the damage to her car the company told her it was aware some of the speed bumps were too high and that they were looking at getting the problem sorted.

In a letter to Mrs Ritchie, Deveron Homes advised her to claim back the money on her motor insurance, something she says is unfair under the circumstances.

She said: "The road has been in terrible condition since they started the building works. I drove over one of their speed bumps and the spring just went in my car. Initially I contacted the council who I assumed would be responsible. They were very helpful sending someone out to look at the problem but soon told me it was actually Deveron Homes that were responsible for the road.

"I phoned Deveron Homes the next day and was told speed bumps could be a minimum height of 75mm and a maximum of 100mm. The one I damaged my car on was 125mm, to put it into perspective that is almost pavement height.

"I wrote in a letter of complaint to them in January but by February 11 all they had done was scrape a bit off the top, so I phoned again and was told someone would call me back. That was two weeks ago and still I've heard nothing.

"When I mentioned my car problem at work I found out that four other cars had their exhaust pipes ruined due to the height of the speed bumps.

A spokeswoman from Deveron Homes told the Buchanie the company were aware of Mrs Ritchie's complaint, adding: "Our company wishes to assure all residents that matters concerning road safety within our developments is always given our immediate attention.

"We have received no similar reports from other residents but are now carrying out a full investigation."