The condition of Britain’s roads have been compared to the surface on the moon just as costs of repairs skyrocket.
A new ALARM – Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance – report branded Britain’s highways a “national disgrace”, with the cost of repairing every pothole across England and Wales rising to a staggering £18.6billion.
Despite nearly two million potholes being filled over the last year, research by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) has found only half of the country’s roads are in good condition.
The annual research, based on questionnaires filled out by local authorities, is conducted from December until February.
Joining the People’s Channel, Shadow Transport Minister Greg Smith was hit with the accusation roads had deteriorated to such a state due to 14 years of Tory “neglect”.
He responded: “I don’t think that’s entirely fair. But let’s not beat about the bush.
“The roads have been getting worse and worse for a very, very long time, and this winter has been particularly hard for them.”
He added: “When I talk to my council, we’ve gone through multiple phases of freeze, rain, freeze, rain and that really does trash them.
Successive Governments have often shifted the blame onto a particularly icy winter
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“However, that’s no excuse for the long term picture because it’s clear for all of us to see everyone who drives can bounce along the roads.
“Some of them resemble the surface of the moon!”
Mr Smith, the MP for Mid-Buckinghamshire, explained that no party was exempt from blame, with all of them being “as bad” as the next.
However, the Tory demanded “major intervention” from Labour to ensure every road is “fit” to drive on due to the damage caused to Britons’ cars everyday.
BRITAIN’S POTHOLE PLIGHT – READ THE LATEST:
Potholes outlined in Chelmsford, Essex
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On the report, David Giles, chairman of the AIA, delivered a damning verdict, blasting: “I think all road users would agree that the condition of our local roads has become a national disgrace.”
He further warned that even when the roads are being repaired, the workers “were attacked every day, either verbally or even physically” and were subject to both verbal and physical abuse.
Mr Giles added: “I was out filming the other day, and a van driver stopped, thinking we were working for the local authority, and what we got was a string of expletives.”
In the report, councils were found to be spending more than before, with highway maintenance funding up 17 per cent to an average of £30.5million each in 2025-26, although drivers were seeing little improvement.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We’re already seeing progress, with 15 per cent more pothole prevention works carried out in 2025 compared to 2024 and reversing a nearly decade-long decline in road repair works.”
The nation has long-complained of the caverns hollowing out Britain’s roads, which have left cars damaged and forcing motorists to fork out sometimes thousands of pounds to mend the vehicle.
Some have even faced fines for their own car being damaged, such as Matt Fellows from Derbyshire, who received a £70 fine.
A civil enforcement officer slapped a penalty charge notice on Mr Fellows’s windscreen while the driver, who was displaying hazard warning lights, was arranging for the damaged tyre to be replaced.