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Press Release

One pothole fixed every 15 seconds, new figures show

31 March 2011

Responding to new figures which show councils filled in an extra 800,000 potholes last year while reducing the cost of repairs and compensation payments, Cllr Peter Box, Chairman of the Local Government Association's Economy and Transport Board, said:

“Potholes are a menace to motorists and drive all road users to despair. Councils know how strongly people feel about them and have responded by fixing roads at a record rate.

“Last year local authorities on average filled in one pothole every 15 seconds. At the same time, councils in England managed to drive down the cost of repairs by 30%, saving hard-pressed council-tax payers more than £46 million in the process.

“Less potholes mean less compensation claims, and the prolific work of local authority highways teams meant the amount of compensation payouts in England last year was down by nearly a quarter.

“More frequent extreme winters have taken their toll on the roads but, even as their budgets are being cut, councils will continue their efforts to make less money go further and ensure roads remain safe.

“We were pleased that Government listened to our concerns and the extra £200 million they provided will help councils deal with the immediate damage wreaked by last winter.”

Notes:

New figures are released today by the Asphalt Industry Alliance in their Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey.

The survey of local authorities shows that:

  • Across England and Wales, 2,202,000 potholes were filled in last year. By comparison, councils fixed just over 1,400,000 potholes in 2009/10
  • Councils across England and Wales spent £1.33 billion last year on structural maintenance of roads – an increase of about £128 million on the previous year.
  • For local authorities in England (outside London) the average cost of repairing a pothole last year was £53.81 – down from £78 the previous year.



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