To mark National Pothole Day, Go.Compare Car Insurance can reveal the top ten counties in England and Wales whose roads are most peppered with potholes today (Monday 15 January).
Topping the peak pothole list was Derbyshire County Council, which reported 215,787 potholes over three years between January 2020 and December 2022.
Two more northern counties took the 2nd and 3rd place spots, with Durham and Lancashire County Councils featuring respectively, with more than 180,000 potholes reported in the same three-year period.
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. This research discovered that 2.4 million potholes were reported across England and Wales between January 2020 and December 2022.
| Welsh County | Potholes (2020-2022) | |
| 1 | Caerphilly County Borough Council | 29,885 |
| 2 | Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council | 16,511 |
| 3 | Cardiff Council | 7,696 |
| 4 | Ceredigion County Council | 7,223 |
| 5 | Denbighshire County Council | 6,469 |
| 6 | Swansea City and Borough Council | 6,315 |
| 7 | Isle of Anglesey County Council | 6,098 |
| 8 | Gwynedd County Council | 3,982 |
| 9 | Newport City Council | 3,922 |
| 10 | Conwy County Borough Council | 2,837 |
In total, five counties in England reported more than 100,000 potholes on their roads, with Surrey and Northumberland County Council taking the 4th and 5th spots on the list.
| Local authority |
Reported potholes (2020 -2022) | |
| 1 | Derbyshire County Council | 215,787 |
| 2 | Durham County Council | 189,821 |
| 3 | Lancashire County Council | 189,461 |
| 4 | Surrey County Council | 142,564 |
| 5 | Northumberland County Council | 132,319 |
| 6 | Oxfordshire County Council | 79,795 |
| 7 | Kirklees Council | 73,721 |
| 8 | Somerset County Council | 59,185 |
| 9 | Staffordshire County Council | 58,689 |
| 10 | Kent County Council | 58,284 |
Across the UK, motorists’ frustration is being fuelled by potholes on the roads, with a recent survey from Go.Compare finding that 48% of motorists name potholes as their biggest motoring worry.
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