Roads chief says pothole numbers still too high

KCC said it is spending £50m on tackling potholes

A drop in the number of reported potholes across Kent still leaves road users facing a problem that is “way too high”.

Neil Baker, the cabinet member for roads on Kent County Council, was speaking after new council figures showed 18, 853 potholes were reported between January and April, compared with 21,593 for the same period in 2023.

KCC said it is spending £50m on tackling potholes.

Cllr Baker said: "The drop in reported potholes is welcome, of course, but it’s no cause for celebration – it is still a large number and still way too high."

He added: “Is there an argument that people are now more aware about reporting and if the road is marked up the pothole is already reported?”

KCC said that a combination of greater funding, resources, and better equipment, including new semi-automatic technology, would help to fix pothole problems, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Barry Lewis, highways spokesman for the Labour group on KCC, said the authority's target of repairing potholes in 28 days had been "in effect been scrapped" and that only emergency repairs were carried out. KCC disputes that claim.

Pothole damage

Mr Lewis said: "If we do one pothole, we should resurface the whole section of road to make it more robust rather than repairing one and then coming back to the same road three months later to do another one.”

KCC said last month was was spending £8.6m from the Department for Transport to tackle potholes between March and October.

Reports of potholes and damage they caused hit five-year highs in 2023, according to local governments and the AA.

The AA estimates they may have cost UK drivers as much as £500m in repairs.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.