Pothole-related breakdowns jumped 9% between April and June

Breakdown rescue company the RAC said it received 9% more call-outs likely caused by poor road surfaces in that period compared with a year earlier. It attributed this to the first three months of the year generally being colder than in 2024.

More severe winter conditions create additional potholes as water seeps into existing cracks in roads, then freezes and expands. Local roads maintenance funding for England provided by the Government for this financial year is nearly GBP1.6 billion, a rise of GBP500 million compared with the previous 12 months.

The increase is estimated to be enough to fix around seven million potholes. RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "Although English councils received a record amount of funding for roads at the start of the new financial year in April, it's too early to notice the benefit of increased maintenance programmes. "We can clearly see the cold winter weather at the start of the year has left its mark and caused an unseasonable high in breakdown volumes during a quarter when we'd typically expect a reprieve.

"With second-quarter RAC call-outs 9% higher than the same period last year, we hope English councils have been putting their allocated funding pots to good work in the summer surface dressing season which runs from April to September. "We hope drivers will soon start to see the results of both the preventative maintenance and resurfacing works they have done." Surface dressing is a preservation treatment which creates a new sealed and waterproof surface on roads.

A Local Government Association spokesperson said: "Councils take their responsibilities to maintain and upkeep roads seriously. "As changing weather patterns impact roads, local government seeks to innovate and find new ways to respond to the issue. "Greater long term funding certainty, with local roads receiving a fairer share of the GBP24 billion roads fund over the next five years, will enable councils to invest in more preventative treatments."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are ending the pothole plague on Britain's roads, investing GBP24 billion to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country over the next five years.

"With the average driver forking out nearly GBP500 to repair serious pothole damage, we know fixing cratered roads is not just about pride in our communities, but the pound in people's pockets.

"The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they have to prove progress or risk losing a quarter of this year's record funding boost."