ITV's Tonight reveals major problems with the maintenance of UK's potholes

08/07/10

Are potholes becoming more and more of a driving hazard in your area? Last night, ITV’s The Tonight Programme investigated the poor state of Britain’s roads finding that some council’s only resurface potholed roads every 249 years.

It’s a well known fact that Potholes are a major factor in causing axle and suspension failure to vehicles, and that they contribute to a third of mechanical issues on UK roads, costing British motorists an estimated £2.8 billion every year.

Chris Choi, who conducted the special investigation for Tonight revealed that road maintenance in England and Wales is underfunded by around 50%, or £1 billion every year. He also found that 70 per cent of road works carried out by utility companies was not independently checked and that there was a widespread failure to meet inspection standards among those that were.

Choi went on to reveal that the roadworks in several major regions within the UK were simply unacceptable. Liverpool topped the board with 100 per cent failure of ten different road maintenance companies to meet the standards required.
In response, many utility companies told Tonight that their own checks showed that their road works were much better, and they suggested that the sample size of the investigation was too limited, and stressed that they were working hard to address the issues raised.

Authorities currently pay out more than £50 million in compensation claims due to poor roads. At current maintenance levels, the average frequency for a road to be resurfaced in England is once every 65 years. In Wales it is once every 81 years.

For further information visit www.potholes.co.uk