The number of potholes reported in St Helens over the past six years

In recent years, potholes and road defects have risen in areas all across the country, with a Freedom of Information request to UK councils highlighting how more than one million were reported last year.

These figures mean that 2023 was on track to have the highest-ever reported rate of potholes, which have been blamed on record temperatures, wet weather, heavy traffic, and cuts to council funding.

Like many other areas, St Helens follows the trend of increasing potholes with a six-year high of 1,611 reported in the eleven months to November 2023.

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Growing pothole reports in St Helens

Potholes on Robins Lane in 2022 (Image: Contributed)
In St Helens, the number of potholes reported across the borough had fallen from 1,230 in 2018 to 1,126 in 2019 and 785 in 2020.

Since then, the number of potholes reported has steadily increased to 932 in 2021, 1,127 in 2022, and 1,611 up until November 2023.

While potholes may not be the most pressing issue on the council's agenda, the rising figures are a cause for concern, particularly for the injuries they can cause pedestrians and cyclists and the damage that they can cause to vehicles.

Speaking about the national figures, Roger Harding, Director of the Round Our Way organisation which put in the Freedom of Information request, said: "Potholes are the bane of many of our lives and put drivers, cyclists and even pedestrians at risk of serious injury.

"The weather extremes that climate change brings are sadly creating many more of them at a time when cuts mean repairs are already not keeping up.

“No one should have to risk injury or breakdown to get from A to B locally. More investment is needed in repairs and new materials, but we also need politicians to get serious about tackling the climate change that is increasingly causing potholes in the first place.”

Council highway teams work 'around the clock' on road issues

Highway teams are said to work 'around the clock' on road issues (Image: Stock)
Councillor Seve Gomez Aspron MBE, Deputy Leader of St Helens Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, said: "As a highways authority, the council is responsible for 484 miles of road, with in circa of 1,700 pothole repairs carried out last year.  

“Road users quite rightly expect to see the borough's roads in the best possible condition and we as a council go to great lengths with the resources available to us to ensure our network is maintained to as high a standard as possible, which is challenging given that our highway maintenance funding only allows us to maintain a fraction of the network each year. 

“Whilst potholes account for small repairs, the highways maintenance budget has been cut massively by Government since 2010 by well over 60 per cent. And so, until we get a proper government funding settlement, our road network will deteriorate, despite our best efforts. 

"Throughout the year, our highways team works exceptionally hard around the clock to deal with issues on our roads, not only to provide safe and resilient links for people to travel around our borough and support economic growth, but also to provide a suitable environment in which people can safely live, work and visit."

You can report potholes and road defects to the council here, or by calling 01744 676789.