Record number of potholes reported to Wiltshire Council

The council has announced that 3,623 pothole reports have come in through its MyWilts software in January.

This was significantly higher than the 924 reports in December and 677 reports in November.

Councillor Caroline Thomas, cabinet member for transport, said this "illustrates the scale of the problem".

She added: "We’re doing all we can to fix them and have ensured that filling potholes is the focus of all 18 of our Parish Stewards around the county to support the usual pothole teams."

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Potholes have been on the rise due to recent weather creating the "ideal conditions" for them to form, according to the council.

The hot and dry summer of 2022, combined with the very wet and then cold weather experienced this winter has been the perfect storm.

Along with the usual pothole teams, which respond to issues based on customer reports, the council has enlisted its 18 Parish Stewards – one for each community area in Wiltshire – to focus solely on fixing potholes in their area.

“Our Parish Stewards are key resources. During the recent cold snap, many drove gritters to help keep our highways safe and before that they were helping with local flooding. But as the wet and cold weather has subsided for now, they have moved back to pothole-filling," added Cllr Thomas.

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Deeper potholes are being given priority and parish stewards are clearing the holes of debris and then filling them with a quick-drying filler, before using tools to smooth the road surface.

The temporary repair approach enables stewards to fill up to 100 potholes every week.

In December, Charlotte Briggs, of Amesbury, was quoted £1000 to repair her car after she hit a pothole on the A345.

Pothole on A345. (Image: Charlotte Briggs)

Both of her children, aged nine and 10, were in the car and left "very shaken" after the incident took place.

Potholes on Shrewton High Street were creating huge problems for residents and Cllr Richard Harris, chair of Shrewton Parish Council called for "decisive action".

Cllr Thomas added: “Our priority is always to fill potholes to make them safe. However, in doing this at times we appreciate that some temporary repairs may not be as good as resurfacing the road.

"Nonetheless, depending on conditions, these repairs can last many years and, importantly, the approach means our stewards can fill up to 100 each week.”