County pothole fixes fall by almost 60%, data shows

The number of potholes and road defects repaired by Hampshire County Council has dropped dramatically, according to official figures.

The Local Highways Maintenance Transparency report has revealed the council fixed 32,419 highway defects in 2024/25, a fall of about 59% compared with the 79,573 it repaired the previous year.

This sharp reduction has come despite Hampshire managing one of the largest local road networks in England, with more than 5,500 miles of roads and 4,200 miles of footways.

A council spokesperson said the authority was taking a more strategic approach to maintenance.

The council said it was planning to invest £55.9m in highway maintenance this year.

The spokesperson said that so far this year the authority had repaired 22,172 defects through "reactive and emergency work", which are repairs aimed at issues posing an immediate safety risk to road users, such as deep potholes, cracks, subsidence, loss of surface material and deteriorating road edges.

They added: "In addition, we have an extensive programme of planned maintenance in progress, which ensures funding is targeted efficiently and helps reduce the need for more expensive reactive repairs over the longer term."

In May 2024, former Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced a £132m long-term resurfacing programme for Hampshire, part of an £8.3bn government plan to resurface thousands of miles of local roads across England.

The government has said the funding is intended to help councils move away from short-term patching and towards longer-lasting resurfacing schemes.

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