Breakdowns caused by potholes jumped by a FIFTH last month due to poor weather, figures show
VEHICLE breakdowns caused by potholes jumped by nearly a fifth last month due to the dismal weather, figures show.
Around 50,000 call-outs to drivers left stranded by awful road conditions were recorded by the AA, in a five-year high.
Mechanics only attended 41,790 in the previous July, which was the most for that month since 2018.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said: “July’s rainfall caused more headaches for drivers, with tyres, suspensions and steering mechanisms all being damaged as the rain and puddles hid the potholes lurking underneath.”
The cost of bringing the pothole-ravaged local roads across England and Wales up to scratch would be £14billion.
Ministers have increased a pothole fund by £200million to £700million for the current financial year but critics are demanding more resources.
Shaun Davies, who chairs the Local Government Association, said: “Decades of reductions in funding from central government to local road repair budgets has left councils facing the biggest ever annual pothole repair backlog.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “It’s for local authorities to maintain their highways.
“To help them do that we’re investing more than £5 billion from 2020 to 2025, with an extra £200 million announced at the Budget in March to resurface roads up and down the country.
“We’ve also brought in new rules to clamp down on utility companies leaving potholes behind after carrying out street works.”