Hertfordshire County Council, controlled by the Tories, is the worst offender as will not consider a road defect for repair until it is at least 300mm wide and 50mm deep
They are the bane of the existence of many motorists – and can cause significant damage to our cars.
But some potholes still won’t be fixed – if they are less than a foot wide, it has today emerged. Nearly one in eight highways authorities in England refuse to repair the defects unless they hit that criteria.
Hertfordshire County Council, controlled by the Conservative Party, will not consider a road defect for repair until it is at least 300mm wide and 50mm (2in) deep, analysis of publicly available road repair policies has revealed.
It will come as further frustration to drivers across the patch, including Anthony Norden, whose wife hit a pothole last month they’d reported to the authority some time previous – to no action.
Mr Norden, 74, said: “I first came across the pothole in March, and reported it then. Initially I was told the pothole is too small for them to bother repairing. Then, on December 21, my wife was driving and hit the same pothole, creating a gash in the side wall of her tyre.”
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The angry pensioner, from Watton At-Stone, Hertfordshire, is not alone. Local authorities received nearly one million reports of potholes between January and November 2024, the Mirror reported this month.
But, of the 145 highways authorities’ websites surveyed by The Telegraph, the average depth required before maintenance crews would intervene was 40mm (1.6in). Sixteen councils surveyed by the publication said they will not consider fixing potholes smaller than that size. These include Tory-controlled Hampshire and Buckinghamshire as well as smaller areas such as Labour’s Warrington and Wirral councils.
Yet, the worst offender, Hertfordshire County Council, received 1,914 compensation claims from drivers who said their cars had been damaged by road defects in the county during 2023 – the fourth highest in the UK, according to RAC data gathered last year.
Only 13 per cent of those claims were successful. Repairing a pothole on a reactive basis costs £79.53 on average, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s 2024 Alarm survey.
Councillor Phil Bibby, for Hertfordshire County Council said: “When we’re prioritising potholes repairs we look at a number of factors including width, depth, position in the carriageway and the type of road it’s on to decide how urgently a particular pothole needs to be fixed. Our strategic decisions have led to Hertfordshire’s A, B and C roads being consistently rated as better than the national average by the Department for Transport, and as some of the best in the South East.”
Asphalt Industry Alliance said the average cost of repairing a pothole on a reactive basis is £79.53. Damage to vehicles can often be significantly more, with up to one in six facing bills above £500.
But Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, did late last year tell House of Commons Labour plans to invest in “significant improvements to our road network”. She added: “For too long, potholes have been an all too visible reminder of our failure to invest as a nation.”
