FoI request reveals ‘pothole capital of England’

Reports of potholes increased by 180% in Suffolk between 2022 and 2023.

According to a Freedom of Information request by Quotezone, the number of reports in the county surged from 5,444 in 2022 to 15,242 a year later, making it the ‘pothole capital’ of the country.

Gloucestershire saw reports increase by 98% (6,845 to 13,554) in the same period, while in Kent the number of reports rose from 13,392 to 25,668, or 92%.

All three counties were well above the national average increase of 40%.

Pothole capital of England

Greg Wilson, CEO of Quotezone, said:

“The extreme weather conditions over the last two years have really accelerated the growing pothole problem. They continue to blight UK roads causing dangerous and costly damage for all road users.”

Only two council areas recorded an improvement of road quality between 2022 and 2023, with pothole reports in Lincolnshire and Staffordshire down 1.3% and 30% respectively.

This comes after a report by Kwik Fit found that drivers paid £1.48bn last year to repair vehicles damaged by potholes, which is a 61% on the figure six years ago, while the RAC said it attended more pothole-related breakdowns in the third quarter of 2023 than ever before.

Labour has pledged to repair a million potholes in England every year with an additional £320m funding.