Pothole repair bill hits £18.6 bn as complaints triple ahead of local elections

TL;DR: Fixing England and Wales’ pothole‑ridden local roads would cost £18.6 billion and take about twelve years, even with more money. Breakdown calls linked to potholes jumped from 5,420 to 15,421 in the first quarter of 2025‑26, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander likened a damaging pothole to a lunar crater seen by Artemis II astronauts.

Context: Voters heading to the English local elections on Thursday cite road conditions among their top concerns, alongside the cost of living, health services and crime. Potholes can cause vehicle damage, pose risks to cyclists and pedestrians, and are seen as a sign of how well a community maintains its infrastructure. The government has pledged to end the "pothole plague" and has introduced a traffic‑light rating system for councils’ road‑maintenance performance.

Key Facts: The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates that bringing pothole‑plagued local roads in England and Wales up to standard would require £18.6 billion and take roughly twelve years, even if funding increases. In the first quarter of 2025‑26, the RAC recorded 5,420 pothole‑related breakdown calls, rising to 15,421 in the same period of 2026—a near‑tripling. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander remarked that the pothole that damaged her Mini Cooper was so large she thought astronauts on Artemis II might have seen a comparable crater on the Moon.

What It Means: The substantial financial gap and the sharp rise in complaints suggest that road maintenance will remain a salient issue for voters and candidates alike. Parties have outlined various approaches, from national patrols and new technologies to locally decided funding priorities. The allocated £7.3 billion for local road maintenance over the next four years will be a key test of how quickly councils can reduce the backlog.

Watch next: How elected councils deploy the announced £7.3 billion road‑maintenance fund and whether any pilot projects using cutting‑edge repair technologies are launched in the coming months.