Pothole still not repaired after 11 years

Essex Highways says wet weather and high volumes of traffic have created an "unprecedented" number of potholes

A pothole reported to a council more than 10 years ago has still not been repaired, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

The 11-year-old road defect is in Hockley, which - according to new data - has five of the 10 oldest potholes reported to Essex County Council.

The chairman of the parish council said the village, near Southend-on-Sea, had "some rather nasty potholes" and residents often complained about the roads.

A county council spokesman said highways crews were "working enormously hard" to carry out repairs and the most serious potholes were prioritised.

The FOI, submitted by the BBC, found the oldest reported pothole in Hockley that remains to be fixed was in The Spinneys. It dated back to April 2013.

Five prime ministers have been in power since it was first raised with the county council.

There are some "nasty" potholes in Hockley, according to the chairman of its parish council

The data also showed potholes in Pulpits Close and Folly Lane had been reported in September and December 2015. They also have not been repaired.

Two more, in Claybrick Avenue, were flagged in January 2016, but also have not been dealt with.

"We have got some rather nasty potholes that still haven't been fixed," said Barbara Thorogood, the parish council chairman.

"They should be fixed rather than patched over, as that’s a waste of money when it falls apart."

Five of the ten oldest reported potholes in Essex are found in Hockley

The figures revealed by the FOI showed 21,807 carriageway defects were reported to the county council last year.

That was up almost 10,000 compared to the 11,879 reports in 2022.

A total of 13,667 potholes were repaired last year, the data showed.

'Enormous deterioration'

The county council spokesman said its 5,100-mile road network was "under constant pressure" from high volumes of traffic.

"This volume of traffic combined with the wettest winter on record has resulted in enormous deterioration to our road network across the whole of Essex," he said.

"This has created an unprecedented number of potholes on our roads."

Highways crews were out "working enormously hard" on a daily basis to repair potholes and prioritised the most serious ones, the spokesman added.

Got a story? Email [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830