Lancashire 'one of worst in country' for potholes

In total 399,460 potholes were reported to all shire authorities last year

Lancashire is ranked one of worst areas in the country for the amount of potholes, with more than 85,000, according to a report.

The figure of 85,150 was the highest for any shire authority in England, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to every county council in the country.

Lancashire County Council, which maintains the roads in 12 districts including Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale - but does not include Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool - repaired 78,503 potholes in the year.

In total 399,460 potholes were reported to all shire authorities last year, with 583,097 repairs carried out between January 2023 and December 2023.

More than 85,000 potholes were reported to Lancashire County Council in 2023

Matthew Stokes, specialist insurance manager at Motorcycle Insurance, who requested the FOI, said: “Potholes remain a significant issue across UK roads.”

Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, Lancashire County Council’s highways boss, said wet and freezing weather had contributed to the number of potholes last year, but "our teams have been working extremely hard to repair the defects".

"Thanks to their phenomenal efforts, we are back on track and where we need to be," he said.

"We have added significantly to our resources to be able to fix potholes within our target timescales by bringing in contractors to assist our highways teams.

"We are focused on making our roads as resilient as we can with the resources available by next winter, which is why in May we added an extra £4m to the budget to carry out small patching and resurfacing schemes to the localised areas where the worst deterioration has occurred, and reduce the need for repeated safety repairs in future."