Car breakdowns due to potholes soar in rainy July

Car breakdowns due to potholes soared in July as repairs slowed during one of the wettest months on record, figures show.

The AA motoring organisation said call-outs for car damage from potholes rose by almost 20% compared with last July.

Wet weather meant drivers often could not see the potholes while repair efforts by councils were affected.

The AA said common incidents included damaged shock absorbers and dented wheels.

In total, the group said it had received 50,079 call-outs in July to assist vehicles stranded from an encounter with a pothole - the highest number for that month since 2018.

The AA added that so far, 2023 was the third "worst year" for pothole breakdowns. It said it had attended 362,172 incidents by the end of last month.

The problem could add more financial woes to drivers who are already suffering from record high car costs, including insurance, which is 21% higher than this time last year.

June Leatheam, 72, from Whitchurch in Hampshire, had to replace two of her tyres at a cost of £200 after driving into a pothole in July.

"When I drove along, knowing the holes are there, I was going quite tentatively. But the car just dipped and there was a bang," she said.

June Leatheam had to replace two of her tyres after driving into a pothole

June didn't realise the extent of the damage until her car was due for an MOT, where she was informed that her tyres were bulging.

"I've reported the group of potholes several times before. When rain fills them up, people don't know about them," she said.

"I know councils across the country are short of money, but it shouldn't be to the detriment of the safety of anyone else, whether it's cyclists or drivers," June added.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said councils will now be "under more pressure" to get planned repair work completed before winter.

Potholes become worse in winter, when water can seep into cracks in the road. The constant freezing and thawing of water in icy temperatures weakens the structure of the road and material eventually dislodges with the movement of vehicles, causing holes.

"With 2023 looking to be one of the worst years on record for pothole damage, we need to see more investment in local roads maintenance funding," Mr Cousens said.

He added that for cyclists and motorbike riders, damage from potholes can be fatal.

The cost of bringing potholed roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £14bn.

The government increased its Potholes Fund by £200m, to £709m for 2023.

Shaun Davies, who chairs the Local Government Association, said "decades" of reduced government funding has "left councils facing the biggest ever annual pothole repair backlog".

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "It's for local authorities to maintain their highways.

"To help them do that we're investing more than £5bn from 2020 to 2025, with an extra £200m announced at the Budget in March to resurface roads up and down the country."

The spokesman added that new rules had also been brought in to clamp down on utility companies leaving potholes behind after street works.

In June, a man from south East London resorted to turning potholes in to works of art in order to catch the council's attention.

He filled one hole with figures of astronauts to show the resemblance of local potholes "to moon craters".

Tim Webb's pothole art is intended to catch the attention of councils to repair them

Last year, Essex County Council warned anyone attempting to fix a road could become liable for accidents, after singer Sir Rod Stewart took to repairing a pothole himself outside his home.

Sir Rod had said that despite the pothole causing damage to a passing ambulance, "no-one can be bothered to do" any repairs.