Pothole repairs on local roads in England sink to lowest level in five years

The Local Government Association said the backlog in road repairs was caused by ‘decades of reductions in funding from central government’. Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy

The mileage of local roads in England being resurfaced or treated to avoid potholes has fallen to its lowest level in five years, research has shown.

There has been a decline of almost one-third in the total amount of life-extending road maintenance by local councils, according to analysis of government data by the RAC motoring organisation.