Potholes are the bane of motorists’ lives and the winter weather is taking its toll on Huddersfield’s roads.

Tories in the Colne Valley have raised the crumbling state of the district’s roads and are calling for Kirklees Council to do more to repair potholes – and repair them properly.

The call comes as car insurance firm Go.Compare revealed that Kirklees was in the top 10 nationally for potholes.

  Councils  Number of reported potholes (2020 – 2022)
1Derbyshire County Council215,787
2Durham County Council189,821
3Lancashire County Council189,461
4Surrey County Council142,564
5Northumberland County Council132,319
6Oxfordshire County Council79,795
7Kirklees Council73,721
8Somerset County Council59,185
9Staffordshire County Council58,689
10Kent County Council58,284

The comparison site submitted more than 300 Freedom of Information requests to councils across England and Wales to find out which areas had the most pothole reports.

Their research found that 2.4 million potholes were reported across England and Wales between January 2020 and December 2022. Kirklees came seventh with 73,721 reported potholes.

In 2022, Bill Plant Driving School named Kirklees as the ‘Pothole Capital of England and Wales’, with a staggering 19.74 potholes reported per mile of road. In that year, 23,513 potholes were reported on Kirklees roads.

Colne Valley Conservatives spokesman David Heathcote said drivers were angry about the state of the roads and wanted proper repairs.

“The Government has provided substantial funding for pothole repairs but it’s up to the Labour-run council to ensure that the repairs are of high quality and last longer,” he said. “We would encourage residents to use the council’s pothole reporting website.”

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Clr Moses Crook, Cabinet member for housing and highways, said: “Kirklees Council fixed 26,087 potholes across the district in 2023.

“Regular scheduled inspections are carried out across the highway network on a monthly, three, six and 12 monthly cycle depending on the road. It is possible, however, for defects to develop between our scheduled highway safety inspections and we encourage road users to report these through our website.

“The authority is naturally sorry to hear of any instances of vehicle damage that occur on the highway network.

“Should any motorist feel that the council is responsible for the damage to their vehicle any claim needs to be made by way of a signed claim form.

“The claim form should include the date, time and location of the incident, the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the specific reasons as to why the motorist holds the authority responsible.

“Motorists can also include any photographs of the defect and invoices/quotations they have to support their claim.

“Motorists can download a highway claim form using the link below which can be completed along with the supporting documentation requested.”

http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/transport-roads-and-parking/claim-damage-to-your-vehicle.aspx