Council fills 500 potholes a day after record number

Cornwall Council said safety was paramount and the timescale for repairs of potholes depended on the severity of the pothole and its location

More than 500 potholes have been filled across Cornwall a day, the council has said.

Cornwall Council said due to prolonged heavy rain over the last six months it has led to a "record number of potholes on Cornwall roads".

It said Cornwall Highways, which manages a 7,300km network on the council's behalf, has more than doubled the number of crews working on the roads.

The council also announced it would invest £14.5m into road resurfacing and highway maintenance to prevent potholes from forming.

'Working incredibly hard'

The authority explained deep potholes on a road carrying heavy traffic would be repaired quicker than a shallow pothole on an unclassified rural road.

It added the more urgent potholes were repaired across 42 hours, while others posing less concern would be repaired within 28 days.

In 2023 and 2024 crews repaired more than 72,500 highway defects which included potholes, cracked road surfaces, broken manhole covers and damaged or blocked gullies, the council said.

Richard Williams-Pears, cabinet portfolio holder for transport, reassured people teams were working incredibly hard to tackle these issues.

'Can't fix everything'

He said: “I can appreciate the concerns from residents over the number of potholes and defects on our roads.

"We can’t fix everything all at once, but we do fix the most urgent within 48 hours, and in fact more than half of these are filled within 24 hours.

“Prevention is better than cure."

'Temporary repair'

Network manager for Cornwall Highways, Steve Bayley, said efforts were being made to keep up with the constant demands, adding crews were out in all weathers to carry out repairs.

“Our inspectors regularly check the network for potholes and other highway defects," said Mr Bayley.

“On some occasions we may initially make a temporary repair – for example where the pothole is in the middle of busy road and traffic management is needed or if the road is due to be resurfaced.”