Potholes are a “£13 billion” problem says Labour

Recent cold winters could cost the Government a whopping £13 billion in pothole repairs, a survey from Labour has revealed.

The opposition party has also warned that the state of UK roads could get even worse – almost three quarters of the 111 local authorities surveyed have had their road maintenance budgets cut.

92% of the local authorities also reported having a severe backlog of urgent road repairs, but also said they didn’t have the budget to fix them all.

John Woodcock MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Minister, said: “These new figures reveal the worsening state of England’s roads as a result of the Government’s cuts – potholes have become a £13 billion problem under the Tories.

“Motorists and cyclists are already furious that Ministers have pretended to give councils extra money to repair potholes when all they’ve done is replace a fraction of the £432 million they had axed from road maintenance budgets.”

In further bad news for motorists, a survey by Potholes.co.uk, which monitors and logs the worst roads in the UK, has revealed the five worst roads in Britain.

1. B6343 near Morpeth, Northumberland
2. Fieldhead Lane near Holme, West Yorkshire
3. Long Mill Lane neat Plaxtol, Kent
4. Yattendon Road near Basildon, West Berkshire
5. Fyfield Road near Amport, Hampshire

The B6343 was so bad in fact, that Potholes named it the winner of its “most potholed road” award. Thousands of motorists all over the country nominated their hole-iest roads for consideration.

The Government recently injected £100 million of emergency funding into the budget for local authorities to set about repairing the worst roads, but motorists are still frustrated at the lack of repair work being done by local councils.

Warranty Direct, which ordered the survey, suggests that damaged roads could be costing motorists up to £1 billion every year.

MD Duncan McClure Fisher, commented: “We handle thousands of axle and suspension claims every year involving damage clearly sustained a result of the long-term deterioration of our roads.

“We welcomed the additional money in the Budget, but it needs to be a springboard in establishing a five or 10-year plan to revitalise our Third World local road network.”