A council has been slammed over the state of roads that are riddled with potholes. They are so bad that the local authority has been paying out compensation for damaged caused to cars.
Drivers say they have suffered punctured tyres or problems with their vehicles as a result of the state of the roads. One delivery driver said he was able to claim £1,000 from the council after a pothole burst two of his tyres.
Data from a recent environment committee report highlights increases in poor conditions on every type of road in a Liverpool borough, including main A roads. On small roads nearly 14 per cent are in poor condition while on B and C roads the number jumped by six per cent between 2020 and 2021, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The local authority said it had a robust inspection system and prioritised repairs based on the risks to drivers and other road users. They said the conditions of roads in Wirral were in the top 25 per cent across the country.
Tom Tilston, a delivery driver, said: “They are quite shocking. Everywhere there are potholes and poor resurfacing and then they reappear in a couple of weeks. It’s not getting better as a whole around Merseyside and it’s bad around Woodchurch too.”
He said he blew two tyres on a pothole a year and a half ago and was able to claim £1,000 from the council. Michael Wood recently complained to the council about the potholes on one of the local roads.
He said: “They have just been recently filled, but it’s not made it any better. I got in touch because it was that bad. You can accept a bit but it was that bad this stretch of road it needed properly redoing.
“It’s frustrating as I know that this comes largely down to money as the council has other priorities and other roads. It’s about managing expectations and reality and the actual reality is that it’s not straightforward. When they do some work on it, I know it will be a nightmare but it’s short-term pain for long-term gain.”
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Another local resident, Carol Gamble, added: “We have loads of horrible potholes. They just seem to be getting bigger and bigger and the council do not seem to be doing them. They are just everywhere. We see them spray around where it needs to be done but it just stays there and they don’t do anything.
“When you see the potholes and see the spray around them, you think 'yay, it’s finally going to be done' but it doesn’t get done. Sometimes seeing that spray and them not doing it is more annoying than the pothole itself.”
Carol hopes that when new 20mph zones are brought in on the roads, the conditions might improve as people will be driving slower.
Another local, Musa Sahin, said: “We are just paying road tax for nothing really. There are even potholes on the motorway.”
Nihah Shen, who said he blew a tyre on the Chester roundabout, added: “They fill it, but when it’s raining or it's cold weather, it just lifts it up again.”
A Wirral Council spokesperson said: "Wirral Council has a robust highway inspection regime and prioritises repairs to roads based on the risk the defects present after detailed assessment by our highways engineers. Based on the most recent assessments the condition of the road network in Wirral is in the top quartile nationally, however, the authority continues to invest available resources in the most effective way to maintain and improve the borough's highways.”
