'Pothole pandemic' after heavy rain and flooding

Hundreds of road problems, including potholes and blocked drains, have been reported to a council after heavy rainfall and flooding caused by Storm Chandra.

Somerset Council said more than 850 defects were recorded last weekend alone as the council declared a major incident following last week's flooding on the levels and moors.

Council leader Bill Revans said it is dealing with a "pothole pandemic" and hoped the government would provide "the funding to be able to clear up after the effects of Chandra".

A government spokesperson said it was investing £7.3bn over the next four years to help councils resurface roads and fix the "pothole plague".

Somerset Council said its highways teams were currently tackling more than 3,500 defects across the county.

It said rain and flooding across roads in January had created a significant challenge in terms of damage and cost of repairs.

Revans said: "What's in the system now is probably about £1m over what we've budgeted for, but we don't know everything yet. We don't know the damage to the roads that are still under water."

He added: "Our neighbouring councils are also impacted by the same issues so there are only so many contractors to go around to be able to fix the roads."

Depending on the risk, a pothole will be repaired on a timescale of between two hours, 24 hours, seven days or 28 days.

In November, Somerset Council had 15 crews dealing with potholes, but that number has almost doubled in response to the recent wet weather.

Seb Toon, from TLC Garage Services in Wellington, said his business has been dealing with a number of vehicles damaged by potholes.

"The tyre can deflate or blowout and it can cause damage to splash guards under bumpers and wings," he said.

"Sometimes they [potholes] are unavoidable. You can't always go around them when there is traffic coming the other way."

A Government spokesperson said: "To protect homes and businesses from future flooding situations, this Government is investing a record £10.5bn to protect a further 900,000 properties by 2036.

"This is alongside reprioritising over £100 million to maintain existing flood assets."

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