Pothole shame: Lancashire named one of the UK’s pothole capitals - over 67,493 potholes reported in 2022

Research by Bill Plant Driving School shows that the red rose county is the third worst area for the road defects – with 67,493 potholes reported in 2022.

With 4,405 miles of roads in Lancashire, that means that the average number of potholes per mile is 15.32.

The news comes as it was revealed that nationally, 2.7 million cars have been forced off the road by pothole damage as councils struggle with a repair backlog.

Lancashire County Council says it “aims to fix 90 per cent of potholes reported to us within 20 working days” and has millions set aside for work next year, but has calculated that the annual “sustainable investment” needed to improve the overall condition of the roads would range between £51.9m and £56.2m.

However, County Hall is in line to receive a highways maintenance grant from the Department for Transport (DfT) for 2023/24 of just £28.1m.

What does the council have to say?

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Lancashire's climate means we will always have to deal with potholes, and the approach we take is to identify and repair them in good time to keep our roads safe.

"Our highways inspectors regularly check major roads and footways for defects, and we're also grateful to the public for reporting potholes which could be a risk to safety so that we can inspect them promptly and schedule any repairs which may be needed. We aim to fix 90 per cent of potholes reported to us within 20 working days.

"Over the next year we will be focusing £6.8m of investment on resurfacing residential roads which will help to prevent potholes appearing in future, and have allocated £2.2m to carry out mini resurfacing schemes where there are multiple potholes on roads which otherwise would have to wait for repair. We will also be spending £500,000 to 'find and fix' defects before they become more serious potholes.

"People can report potholes via our website, the Love Clean Streets mobile app, or by calling our customer service centre."

Where is worse than Lancashire?

Islington has been named the pothole capital of the UK, with 25.74 potholes reported per mile.

Second worst is Kirklees in Yorkshire with 19.74 pot holes per mile.