UK hit by ‘pothole pandemic’

The pothole crisis in the UK has reached pandemic levels with more than a million potholes reported last year alone.

According to Confused.com, more than 2,700 potholes were identified on UK roads every single day during 2023.

The South East is the UK region most impacted, with more than 200,000 potholes reported to local councils last year.

Meanwhile, more than 4.4 million pothole-related insurance claims were made during the course of the year with average repair costs at £347. As such, local councils paid out £22.7m in compensation, which was six per cent more than in 2022.

Backing up these figures, the AA reported that it was called out to 632,000 pothole-related incidents last year, a 16% rise on 2022, while the RAC reported an increase of 30% in call-outs for pothole damaged vehicles.

It is estimated that the bill to fix pothole-damaged roads has now reached £16.3bn, which is 15% higher than it was a year ago.