Pothole breakdowns ‘up a third in a year’, says RAC

The number of people affected by breakdowns caused by potholes has soared in the last year, according to the RAC.

There were a third more pothole-related breakdowns between April and June compared with the same period last year, the motoring organisation said.

For the second quarter of 2017, 3,565 people called the RAC to report broken suspension springs, damaged shock absorbers or distorted wheels – issues often caused by poor road surfaces.

There were 2,725 over the same period in 2016.

Earlier this year, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that a shortfall in funding would mean many councils struggling to fund social care would need to divert cash earmarked for potholes and other services.

The RAC’s pothole index, based on a 12-month rolling average of breakdowns, indicates that road quality is getting worse after five quarters of improvement.

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said a spell of extreme weather could cause surfaces to deteriorate further.

He said: "The most worrying aspect, however, is the fact that this year’s weather has been so much milder and drier than in the equivalent six months last year and, for this reason, we should have expected the numbers for the second quarter to be lower.

"We fear it would only take a spell of very cold or wet weather for the improvements of the last year or two to evaporate and for the nation to find itself in a situation when we would once again be seeking emergency funding from Government to address the worst affected roads."

Local authorities in England and Wales need over £12bn to bring roads up to scratch, according to the annual road maintenance survey from the Ashphalt Industry Alliance.

That is several times the amount councils spend annually on highways and transport, which was £4.4bn in England last year.

The Department for Transport announced last month that councils would have access to a multi-billion-pound fund to improve or replace their most important A-roads.

In 2016, Government figures showed that England had 246,500 miles of public roads, of which only 31,400 miles were motorway or A-roads.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Nationally, we are providing councils more than £6bn over six years to maintain roads and repair potholes.

"On top of this, we announced last autumn an additional £1.1bn to upgrade and repair roads for communities across England.

"From 2020, we will also have a dedicated share from the National Road Fund to improve and maintain our major roads."

(c) Sky News 2017: Pothole breakdowns ‘up a third in a year’, says RAC