Councils accused of ‘patch and dash’ pothole repairs

 Councils have been accused of a “patch and dash” mentality when fixing potholes after the number of breakdowns related to holes in the road jumped by 11 per cent.

Figures released by the RAC show that the number of calls it received in the last quarter of 2017 with faults caused by poor quality road surfaces was 2,830 compared with 2,547 in the same period in 2016.

It warned that underinvestment and poor maintenance, paired with bad weather conditions, had left the condition of many roads “hanging in the balance.” A spokesman said: “The repairing of many potholes is often poor, there is a what we call a patch and dash system. Tarmac is just chucked off the back of a lorry and that’s it fixed, until it’s next icy and then it all crumbles apart.”

The Local Government Association said that motorways and major trunk roads are receiving 52 times more government funding per mile than local roads maintained by councils.

It called on the Government to reduce the disparity so councils can tackle the £12billion repair bill to bring local roads up to scratch.