Cumbria is on bumpy road to ‘top of the pots’

CUMBRIA has won the accolade of pothole capital of England.

According to reports to the Fill That Hole website, run by Cycling UK, the Lake District county had 448 pothole complaints in 2021.

Runners-up were Hampshire, with 406, and Surrey, with 399.

Potholes are mainly caused by the expansion and contraction of ground water, which freezes and then thaws under the pavement.

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said it had a maintenance backlog of £350million.

“Cumbria has the fourth largest road network in England.The road network is an ageing asset, which has been affected by extreme weather events in the last few years and with climate change this is likely to continue.

“Like all authorities, we continue to lobby government to allocate more funding for highways infrastructure.”