Drivers criticise 'horrendous' car park potholes

4 December 2025

Chris McHughNew Forest

News image — Deep potholes, like these in Wilverley Pit car park, are partly caused by prolongued bad weather, according to Forestry England

Chris McHugh/BBC An outdoor gravel car park is seen almost completely covered in circular, rain-filled potholes. A grassy bank with a road behind it can be seen in the background — Deep potholes, like these in Wilverley Pit car park, are partly caused by prolongued bad weather, according to Forestry England

Visitors to a national park have criticised the "horrendous" state of some of its car parks.

Deep potholes are a regular feature of New Forest car parks, with one driver saying they "nearly took [her] tyre out".

In October Forestry England (FE) said it would begin charging the public to use its car parks in the spring.

It said it had already carried out repairs to more than half its 129 car parks in 2025, and charging the public would help repair them.

Chris McHugh/BBC Richard Burke of Forestry England poses for the camera in front of a muddy gravel car park which is surrounded on all sides by tall trees. Vehicles can be seen in the car park behind him parked in rows on either side. — Richard Burke, of Forestry England, said revenue from incoming parking charges would go towards fixing car parks

The BBC visited four New Forest car parks over two days: Setley Pond, Wilverley Pit, Longslade View and Deerleap, all of which had deep potholes.

Mark Cooper, who walks his dog at Setley Pond, said the potholes were "really bad... we go to a lot of [New Forest car parks] and most of them were very similar."

Another dog walker, who spoke to the BBC at Longslade View car park a short drive away, said: "It almost took my tyre out on the way down... if I'm going to be paying for the car parks I'd definitely [like to see them fixed]".

Sam, who uses Deerleap car park several times a week, said: "The car goes all over the place... if [the new charges] helped me get in and out that wouldn't be too bad."

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Richard Burke, recreation manager at Forest England, said prolongued bad weather and increased use had contributed to a higher level damage to its car parks.

He said FE were constrained with the type of material they could use because of the "ecologically sensitive" nature of the land.

Revenue from new car park charges being introduced in the spring would be put towards maintenance of the car parks, he added.

"We've already ordered new machinery and have additional staff out there putting additional efforts into getting the car parks up to scratch," he said.

It said the cost of its work in the New Forest was much greater than the income it was able to generate, with only 20% coming from government funding.

The price of materials needed to repair and maintain car parks had gone up by 50% over the past three years, it added.