How long does it take to repair a pothole in Norfolk and Suffolk?
A pothole that appeared in Banham in 2016. Photo: Sonya Duncan - Credit: Sonya Duncan
They are the bane of many a driver's day, but new figures show Norfolk County Council is actually the fastest council to repair potholes in East Anglia.
Norfolk County Council at County Hall in Norwich. Picture: Archant - Credit: Archant
Research released by the RAC Foundation show that Norfolk's council try to repair potholes faster than Suffolk and Cambridgeshire while also fixing smaller holes than the other local authorities.
All three councils have a response time of two hours to fix a pothole of a 'serious' size.
Norfolk is the fastest at repairing potholes that are of a smaller size with a target of 35 days.
Whereas Cambridgeshire can take-up to 12 weeks and Suffolk up to 14 weeks.
A pothole appeared under a car in Banham. Picture: Sonya Duncan - Credit: Sonya Duncan
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County Hall repaired 8,450 potholes in 2018. This is almost double on the previous year which saw 4,701 repaired.
A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said: 'It is encouraging to hear that we are the swiftest at repairing potholes in the region. The Beast from the East saw a significant increase in the amount of potholes on Norfolk roads.
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'An additional £12.7 million received as part of the Autumn budget has also allowed us to carry out more resurfacing work on roads across the county as we continue to fight the war against potholes.'
Most councils have adopted a 'risk-based' approach in which the authority will consider the depth and width, the length and makeup of the road network, the type of road the pothole is on and the volume of traffic that uses the road before deciding how quickly to reapir a hole.
Martin Wilby, chairman of Norfolk County Council's environment, development and transport committee. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2018
For Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, a pothole must be at least 20mm deep to be highlighted for repair. Suffolk will only consider a pothole is in need of filling if it is 25mm deep.
Some 26 councils in the UK will not fix a pothole unless it is at least 50mm deep.
Councillor Martin Wilby, the chair of environment, transport and development committee, said: 'This is a testament to the hard working teams that have been faced with a very challenging year.
'We know there is still a lot of work to do but this research shows that our dedicated staff and contractors are up to the challenge.'
