'Almost all' of reported potholes in Northumberland repaired

New figures have revealed that between November 2013 and November 2015, a total of 12,500 potholes were reported to the council and, of these, 12,472 were repaired – which equates to 99.775 per cent.

The figures, released during National Pothole Day, reveal that during that period a further 50,605 potholes were identified and repaired during routine inspections by the council.

This ongoing work to tackle potholes forms part of the council's Local Transport Plan Programme, a £19million investment for 2015/16 to maintain and improve the county’s highway and transport network. This includes extensive work on roads, bridges and culverts across the county, along with an annual surface-dressing programme which seals the road, protects the underlying construction and restores the surface texture and skid resistance.

Following a pledge in winter 2013 to clear the long-running backlog of potholes, teams of council staff successfully filled in the outstanding repairs by the end of June 2014. Since then, work has continued to repairs roads as soon as possible once issues have been identified.

Coun Ian Swithenbank, cabinet member for local services, said: "As with many local authorities, we have seen our road network deteriorate over the past few years, mainly due to long-term under-investment, exacerbated by a series of severe weather events which continue to take their toll on our roads.

"However, we recognise the importance of maintaining this network and we have, over the past two years, invested heavily in additional resources to help tackle the issue and have seen significant improvements as a result. Particularly effective have been our Jetpatchers – two self-contained units that carry all the necessary equipment and materials to repair potholes. This mobile technology has helped dramatically drive down the average cost of a pothole repair.

"The extreme weather over the past month has taken its toll on the road network and the freezing conditions following the wet weather will cause more potholes, but our teams are prepared for this and will be working to carry out repairs quickly and efficiently."

To report a pothole, visit http://bit.ly/NCCpothole