UK's big freeze creates thousands of potholes

11 comments
By Richard Peace | Thursday, Jan 28, 2010 9.45am

Reports have been flooding in of thousands of new potholes following the recent cold snap in the UK.

The Fill That Hole pothole reporting site run by national cyclists' organisation CTC has had its busiest ever month.

The contraction and expansion of ice on the roads has caused widespread damage. The rain-lashed months of February and March are normally the worst for potholes, so CTC expect the state of the roads to further deteriorate.

Some estimates put the total cost of repairs at £100 million. Scores of local councils and police forces have issued pothole warnings as well as the AA.

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"Potholes are widespread pretty much everywhere that has had the cold and frost," said Paul Watters, head of roads policy at the AA. "It's inevitable it will happen but having it early in the winter makes the problem worse...

"We've had the vicious cold for so long it has seeped right into the foundations of the roads. This just adds to the massive backlog of £1 billion of repairs that need doing and most authorities have a backlog of years."

Users of www.fillthathole.org.uk can report potholes, view hazards reported by others and see a league table of local authorities, ranked by percentage of potholes reported fixed. The site can be useful for anyone trying to pursue a claim for damages.

CTC member Kenneth Atkinson recently secured an out-of-court settlement of £6,250 from Kent County Council after a pothole caused him to be thrown from his bike, resulting in a dislocated shoulder.

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User Comments

There are 11 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 11 of 11 comments

  • Seems like a worth while project for the benefit claiming chavs and other lay abouts.

    Give them a spade and rake and off you go son

  • @Tony Mc

    Would you trust a Chav to mend a road?

  • Maybe they should also start fining utility companies and contractors, that dig up the roads and then leave shoddy patches that either crumble away n this weather or just subside.

  • The Americans had it right, to get out of a recession (although supposedly we're already out) build infrastructure.

    Unfortunately... We seem to have roads worse than a 3rd world country in Sussex so this will probably be deemed as too expensive.

  • Vegeeta - that is total rubbish. I am living in a 3rd world country and very few roads here are tarmac covered and the ones that are are filled with potholes so stop the exaggeration. And it doesn't stop a lot of cycling including road cyclists on skinny tyres and race bikes.

  • £6k for a dislocated shoulder? hmmmm tempting

  • If there was a easier way of suing councils and utilities for damage to road vehicles they would soon get em filled.

  • 6 roads on my local Cheshire loop have already been completely re-surfaced. No messing about!

  • mroli - It might not stop cyclists with race bikes, but it is a fact that the roads we have in this country and becoming downright dangerous to cycle on. Over the last few times I have been out, I can honestly say that I have never seen roads as bad as this in my whole life. Cycling on these roads consists of constantly staring at the road and constantly swerving to avoid the craters. They were an utter disgrace before the freeze, but are even worse now.

  • What i don't get is that if you go abroad, Norway or Germany and their roads don't look as bad. I their winters are way harsher.

    Is it the quality of the tarmac or something?

  • Maybe we could fill potholes with chavs and solve two problems at once.... Not sure about how grippy burberry is though.

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