Potholes add up to towering problem

A survey has revealed the true extent of Kent’s pothole problem – with almost 15,000 reported last year alone.

Their combined depth – at almost half-a-mile – would swallow up 167 double-decker buses or 10 Canterbury Cathedrals.

But Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Council dish out less compensation than most authorities to those suffering damaged vehicles.

They paid out just £26,374 in 2016, compared with £152,630 by authorities in Hampshire, which had 1,213 fewer potholes.

Toby Howe, senior highway manager for KCC Highways, says this shows the council acts quickly to fix road issues.

He said: “Kent pays out very little because we do have very specific targets to make sure we know which potholes to repair.

“Compensation claims happen if we haven’t met our own criteria – if we’re aware of a pothole and we didn’t repair it in time.

“We have a really good reporting system where you can go online and it will show the location. You can track the progress of the report as well so you can see when it’s timed in for a repair.

“We have 5,500 miles of road so things will be missed but we’re relying on the public to help us in reporting the potholes they see.”

Last year authorities in the South East spent £12 million fixing potholes, with Kent contributing £1,386,097 to the total.

KCC launched a major campaign to reduce potholes in April and last month committed to spending £5.2 million filling holes before Christmas.

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, which carried out the research, says: “Potholes are a major bugbear among drivers, not least because of the damage they do to vehicles.

“The cost of motoring is getting more and more expensive and damage repairs are a big contributor to this.”