Staggering rise in the number of pothole complaints

A workman rakes asphalt into a pothole

The Borough of Rochdale has had the largest increase in the number of pothole complaints, a staggering ten times more than the previous year, and this corresponds with the biggest fall in spending on road repairs of all Greater Manchester authorities.

The study into the condition of Greater Manchester’s local road network has been carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and uses Freedom of Information (FOI) requests at all 10 councils in GM to ascertain the number of complaints concerning potholes, the number of legal claims for damage to motor vehicles caused by them, as well as the amount of council spending on repairing local roads in the same year.

The research revealed Salford is the best performing authority, with the fewest complaints concerning potholes as well as fewest legal claims for damage to motor vehicles in 2015/16. Salford had 643 complaints relating to potholes for the year, compared to Manchester’s 7,193 – the highest of all the areas.

Simon Edmondson, FSB Manchester Regional Chairman, said: “In Greater Manchester there were 26,524 complaints concerning potholes and damaged roads – that’s an increase on previous years and is equivalent to 73 complaints every single day. This tells a story that most road users, from bikes to bus drivers will, regrettably, be only too familiar with.”

Rochdale Council has been contacted for comment.