'Pothole scourge' on local roads laid bare in new figures

More than a third of English local councils have a public satisfaction rate of just 10% when it comes to the condition of potholes and road surfaces, fresh research has revealed.

The AA branded these statistics as "dismal" and urged an end to the relentless cycle of short-term pothole fixes that deteriorate swiftly. This data emerges from a scrutinisation of the National Highways and Transport Network's annual survey, an entity distinct from the Government's own National Highways, capturing the opinion of over 71,000 individuals from early summer. Survey participants were quizzed on the evolution of potholes and road damage in their districts in comparison to the preceding year.

An extremely low satisfaction benchmark—no better than 10%—was logged for 36 out of the 96 scrutinised local authority territories. Among these are Devon tallying 8%, Essex at 7%, Lancashire with another 7%, and Staffordshire scraping the barrel at 6%.

The minimum satisfaction score of 5% was returned by councils in East Sussex, Herefordshire, and Nottinghamshire. There were eight areas where contentment levels rose to at least 20%, featuring Luton at 24%, Manchester matching that figure, and Southwark in central London reaching a peak of 35%.

AA president Edmund King lamented to the PA news agency that: "Public satisfaction with the condition of local roads is at rock-bottom in too many places. Approval scores for changes in road conditions are dismal, even though we applaud those councils courageous enough to take part in the survey and subject themselves to public scrutiny."

A spokesperson from the Department for Transport said: "For too long, this country has suffered from a pothole plague, which is why we’re investing a further £500 million in local highways maintenance funding next year, going beyond our original commitment to support local leaders to fix up to a million more potholes annually."

The statement read: "We want to achieve this in the most cost-efficient way for the taxpayer by providing local authorities with multi-year funding settlements, enabling them to better maintain their roads and avoid potholes in the first place."