Wirral Council has been criticised for the “shocking” state of the borough's roads, with people complaining that potholes are getting worse.
People from Bebington, Woodchurch, and Eastham told the ECHO they had suffered punctured tyres or problems with their cars as a result of the state of the roads. One delivery driver said he was able to claim £1,000 from the council after two tyres blew out on a pothole.
Data from a recent Wirral Council environment committee report highlights increases in poor conditions on every type of road in the borough including main A roads. On small roads nearly 14% are in poor condition while on B and C roads the number jumped by 6% between 2020 and 2021.
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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% across the country.
Tom Tilston, a delivery driver in Eastham, 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 on Arrowe Park Road 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 Eastham Rake. 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.”
Michael said the situation in Eastham wasn’t the worst on the Wirral but was “one of the worst I can remember.”
Carol Gamble, who works in Bebington, said: “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.
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 its cold weather, it just lifts it up again.”
At a recent council meeting, Cllr Phil Gilchrist moved a recommendation to use up to 5% of money generated from selling land to be spent on improving roads and footways and to prevent roads from getting worse.
He said: “Let’s put it this way. It does seem to me that there is a decline. We have made progress with key major roads but the side roads that people also use do seem to be deteriorating.
“Council officers have been working to spread the money over these areas to the best that they can, but it strikes me that there isn’t enough being invested in the future. There simply isn’t enough money to do all the roads we’d like to do.”
Cllr Gilchrist said the current council budgets meant it was “spreading the jam thinly” but would like to see Wirral get more money off the Liverpool City Region to improve roads too.
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.”
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