Council comes out top of the table for pothole repairs in region
Cambridgeshire County Council have spent more than £7.5million repairing potholes across the county last year. - Credit: Archant
More than £7.5million was spent by Cambridgeshire County Council repairing potholes across the county last year, new figures have revealed.
Members of the public reported some 6,062 potholes to the authority in 2016, with the cost of repairing the county’s roads totalling £7,529,013, the most spent by any council in East Anglia, according to available data.
The figures were revealed by comparison website Confused.com and also showed that the county council spent £24,183 of taxpayer’s cash on compensation for drivers who had suffered injury or damage to their vehicle as a result of potholes.
Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: “If drivers experience a bump in the road, they should report it to their local council as soon as possible before the problem gets any worse.
“The cost of motoring alone is getting more and more expensive and damage repairs is a big contributor to this, as car parts increase in price as well.”
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Across East Anglia, drivers reported 58,485 potholes to county councils, with a combined £15million spent on patching up and repairing the issue. Across the region, more than £230,000 was forked out in compensation claims.
A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesman said: “It’s really great to see from this benchmarking data that within the region, Cambridgeshire has the least total depth of potholes and nearly the lowest in terms of number of potholes reported and amount spent on compensation, yet is spending the most on repairs.
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“Keeping Cambridgeshire moving and maintaining our highways is a top priority for us. We repair potholes according to our highway infrastructure asset management plan, which is based on national guidance. We also work closely with our contractor, Skanska, to look at new initiatives and ways of saving money including using new materials such as those that reduce noise in residential areas.
“We have some really innovative ways of filling potholes, for example our ‘dragon patcher’ which can repair potholes much quicker and more efficiently.”
To report a pothole, call the county council on 03450 455212 or send an e-mail to highways@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
