Channel 4 sends to name local council that ‘refuses’ to fix potholes deemed ‘too small’

A local council is one of six in the UK which only repairs potholes if they are 5cm or more deep. Warwickshire County Council is to be named in an episode of Channel 4’s Dispatchers tonight (May 23) following a nationwide investigation into the state of our roads.

Research by RAC and the Dispatchers team found that more than a third of local authorities will only fix a pothole if it is a certain depth. For most, they will repair potholes 4cm deep or more, but six councils said potholes must be 5cm – 2in – or more to be considered for repair.

These are: Warwickshire, Torbay, Thurrock, Nottingham, Torfaen and South Lanarkshire.

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Thirteen local authorities, including Buckinghamshire, Stockport and Devon, say only those at least 30cm (11.8in) wide and 4cm (1.6in) deep will be repaired.

Some 37% of councils say they take a “risk-based approach” to deciding which potholes to fix and how quickly to do so, while 29% do not specify any criteria online.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “We have long advised the public to report every pothole they come across to their local authority, not least because a council may refuse to compensate for the damage caused by hitting one if they can. to prove they didn’t know it existed.

“But unfortunately, as this review shows, just reporting a road fault doesn’t guarantee it will be fixed.

“In some cases, councils say a pothole must be deep or wide enough to be considered for repair.

“This can be hugely frustrating for anyone who comes across one, reports it, but then sees it get even bigger and more dangerous because it hasn’t reached the council’s repair threshold.”

Common vehicle problems caused by potholes include damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and warped wheels.

In October 2023, the government announced it would provide £8.3bn of extra funding over 11 years to fix potholes in England.

This was part of Network North’s strategy to use money saved by scrapping the planned extension of HS2 north of Birmingham.

The cost of zero pothole-ridden local roads in England and Wales has been estimated at £16.3 billion.

Darren Rodwell, spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: “Councils are on the side of all road users and want to focus on getting roads back properly, including addressing the £16.3 billion road repair backlog.

“Many factors affect repair rates such as road profile, traffic levels and available budgets.

“Councils would much prefer to focus on preventative repairs, but only greater certainty of long-term funding year-on-year to maintain all parts of our motorways will help them achieve this.

“The Government should give Council highways departments five-year funding allocations, the same as National Highways, to give them more certainty in developing resurfacing programs and other improvements to help prevent potholes in the first row.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Local authorities are responsible for maintaining local roads, including setting criteria for repairs, but we are supporting them with an extra £8.3bn of funding reallocated to HS2 – the biggest increase of funding ever for local road improvements. .

“We have also introduced new reporting requirements which mean local authorities will have to report their road maintenance progress quarterly, ensuring that taxpayers can hold them to account for how they spend the record increase in funding. “

The War On Britain’s Motorists: Dispatches is on Thursdays at 8pm on Channel 4

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