Revealed, the town halls repairing fewer potholes

CHIEFS SAY PROACTIVE MEASURES HAVE HELPED IMPROVE HIGHWAYS

- DAVID DUBAS-FISHER & NICOLE WOOTTON-CANE

HALF of Greater Manchester’s councils are repairing fewer potholes than they were a year ago, new data reveals.

Four of the region’s local authorities showed drops in the number of potholes repaired in the 2022/23 year, according to figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request.

Of these councils, Trafford was the lowest, repairing 22 per cent fewer potholes than in 2021/22.

Wigan, Stockport and Oldham also saw their repair rates fall. However, Salford, Bury, Bolton and Rochdale all improved upon their 2021/22 repair rates, with Rochdale topping the list with a 16pc increase. Manchester council said the requested information could not be provided.

Nationally, there were at least 1.23 million potholes repaired in the 2022/23 financial year. That’s up from 1.21 million the previous year, and 1.19 million in 2020/21.

The way that each council records potholes varies, however, meaning that it’s not possible to compare them with one another. For example, some councils log each individual pothole in their data, whereas others will group various potholes together into a single unit of work.