Potholes partly caused by foreign HGVs - council

Councillor Neil Baker says Kent has "a lot of foreign trade coming in"

Foreign lorries are partly to blame for Kent’s pothole problem, the county’s highways chief has said.

Councillor Neil Baker said high vehicle volumes generated by cross-Channel travel and decades of “significant under-funding” have resulted in poor road conditions.

“We have a lot of foreign trade coming in and perhaps not contributing in the way we would like to the upkeep of our roads,” said Mr Baker.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said last month that the UK was suffering from a “pothole plague” and said the government was committed to working with local authorities to fix a million more potholes each year.

Mr Baker, is Kent County Council’s cabinet member for transport and highways, said foreign trade does not help pay for road upkeep as he would like them to.

He said pothole issues were also caused by Kent’s "massive" ongoing house-building programme, which has put extra cars on the road.

The council recorded 34,474 potholes in 2017-18, compared with 57,481 in 2023-24, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Get Britain moving'

Mr Baker said: “It is critical that the government earmarks additional funding for road maintenance in the forthcoming budget.”

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said that the country is suffering from “a pothole plague” and pledged to support local authorities to fix up to one million potholes per year.

“We are determined to address the poor state of our roads and help halt the decline of the country’s road network, to get Britain moving again,” said Ms Haigh.

The government will announce how it will achieve its pledge to fix up to a million potholes each year once its spending review is complete in spring next year.