2,400 potholes reported in first months of 2018

More than 2,000 pothole reports were made to Leicestershire County Council in the first three months of this year.

There were 3,704 reports from members of the public during the 2017/18 financial year.

But in January, February and March of this year, 2,433 reports had been logged already.

There were just 2,556 in the whole of 2016/17.

A budget of £9.3 million covering wider carriageway spending including resurfacing, surface dressing and patching – which can range in size from potholes to larger repairs – was spent by Leicestershire County Council during the 2017/18 financial year.

Earlier this year, the council announced plans to invest an extra £5 million into fixing potholes and maintaining Leicestershire’s roads.

It said the cash would be used to prevent more potholes from developing as part of its ongoing highways maintenance plan.

There were 292 claims submitted to the council relating to damage to property and/or injuries caused as a result of potholes. So far, 29 have been upheld resulting in £5,622.46 worth of compensation being paid.

A bad winter led to teams repairing 20 per cent more potholes in the first three months of this year than last. Potholes form when surface water freezes and causes cracks in the road surface.

On average it took 25 days for council teams to repair reported potholes. Fifty-eight per cent of pothole repair jobs carried out by the county council were completed within the target period of 90 days.

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for environment and transport said: “We work very hard to tackle potholes across the county with additional resources deployed, when possible, to help with the increase in demand, as we recognise the inconvenience they cause to businesses and people who use our roads.

“In January, we received three times as many calls about potholes compared with January 2017 as the result of the harsh winter.

“It took its toll on our roads and we’ve had to send out extra crews to repair damaged roads.

“We’ve got some of the best roads in the country, but we also recognise that there’s more work to do and we aren’t going to rest on our laurels.

“That’s why we are planning to spend an extra £5 million on fixing and maintaining the county’s roads to help prevent more potholes from occurring.”

The extra income is generated from recent investments including rents from properties purchased over the past year.