Pothole damage to cars increases despite warmer winters

More cars are being damaged by potholes

The number of callouts to cars damaged by potholes increased by a quarter in one year, according to new figures.

The RAC handled about 30,000 incidents last year, including damaged suspensions and wheels, despite a milder winter than previous years.

But councils said they are facing a 10-year, £12 billion backlog of repairs.

The most calls for help came from drivers in the east of England, 4,547 in total.

But the biggest increase was in south-east England, 62% up on the year before.

Winter frosts normally damage road surfaces but the RAC described the increase as "worrying" because the weather has been milder than in previous years.

The north-east of England saw an increase to 3,783 call-outs, while the RAC's 'mid-western' and 'north-west' regions, which take in Wales and the West Midlands, saw more than 3,000 incidents each.

The figures emerged on National Pothole day, set up by Colin Mahoney, the founder of the Streetrepairs.co.uk website.

English councils have already been allocated a share of £4.7 billion over six years to tackle the problem of potholes, which can lead to local authorities paying out compensation to drivers whose vehicles are damaged. A further £1.3bn is being put towards repairs of junctions, bridges and street lighting as well as an incentive scheme for councils to deliver cost-effective improvements.

'Worrying rise'

When the funding was allocated in 2014 transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it would be enough to fix around 18 million potholes.

But RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: "It is very worrying that our patrols have dealt with more pothole-related breakdowns in 2015 than they did the year before because we did not experience a particularly cold winter in either year.

"On top of the £6 billion already promised, the Chancellor made available further funds in the Autumn Statement and whilst this is still not enough to meet the shortfall, it may hopefully mean we will see a decline in 'pothole generated breakdowns' this time next year."

Backlog

Councillor Peter Box, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said: "Councils fixed more potholes than ever before last year - one every 15 seconds - and keeping roads safe is one of the most important jobs we do.

"However, a backlog of road repairs of about £12 billion would already take councils more than a decade to clear."

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: "I know how important well-maintained roads are to people up and down Britain. That is why the government is providing unprecedented levels of investment, allocating a record £6 billion to councils in England to improve local roads over the next five years.

"We have topped this up with £250 million announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, specifically to tackle the blight of potholes, a £300 million increase compared to the last Parliament equipping us to fill over 4.5 million potholes."