Imagine cruising down a pothole-free road. Bliss, right? Well, that could’ve been a reality if UK councils actually fixed potholes efficiently. New research says seventeen times more potholes could have been repaired last year if councils used a standard way of doing it.
A Freedom of Information request from Citroen found that some councils are spending as little as £4.13 to repair a pothole, while others are splashing out over £650 on just one. Yep – more than the cost of an iPhone repair, just to fix a dent in the road.
Because every council does things differently, only 1.89 million potholes were fixed in 2024 – even though the UK’s roads are literally crumbling. If all councils had used the cheapest method, we could’ve filled over 33 million potholes instead. Wild.
HIGHEST SPEND PER SINGLE PLANNED POTHOLE REPAIR
1. Shetland Islands Council: £656
2. Shropshire Council: £654
3. Coventry City Council: £633.90
4. North Lanarkshire Council: £479.78
5. Argyl and Bute Council: £513.01
LOWEST SPEND PER SINGLE PLANNED POTHOLE REPAIR
1. Cardiff Council - £4.13
2. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council: £18.06
3. London Borough of Southwark: £34.75
4. East Riding of Yorkshire Council: £35
5. Worcestershire County Council: £43.27
Shetland Islands Council took the crown for the most expensive fix, spending £656 per pothole. Shropshire and Coventry weren't far behind. Meanwhile, Cardiff Council somehow got the job done for just £4.13. Talk about a glow-up for your local tax money.
So yeah – if every council had used Cardiff’s method, we could’ve saved £1.2 billion last year. That’s billion with a B.
It gets messier. There’s no nationwide rule for what counts as a pothole. Some councils only take action when a hole is 5cm deep. Others? 4cm. Some won’t even publish their criteria. Meaning your tyre could hit a crater the size of a small pool and still not qualify for a fix.
This patchy approach was exposed last year by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the RAC. They found 3 in 10 councils don’t publicly say when they’ll fix a pothole. That’s not exactly confidence-boosting.
The 2025 ALARM report dropped a major stat: over half of UK roads have less than 15 years of life left. To fully sort out the issue and get the roads back into decent shape? That’ll be £16.81 billion. Ouch.
The UK Government has promised £1.6 billion for pothole repairs. But Citroen and road safety experts are warning that without a national strategy, it’s just money down the drain. If councils keep spending like Shetland, that cash will only fix 2.4 million potholes. But with Cardiff’s approach? 387 million could be repaired. That’s the difference a bit of coordination makes.
So, How Much Is Your Council Spending?
Here’s a sneak peek:
Aberdeen City Council: £113.80
Argyll & Bute Council: £513.01
Bracknell Forest Council: £110.66
Bristol City Council: £160
Caerphilly County Borough Council: £100
Cardiff Council: £4.13
Cheshire East: £111.93
Cheshire West and Chester: £134.10
City of Glasgow: £64.91
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council): £191.50
Cornwall Council: £85
Coventry City Council: £633.90
Derby City Council: £239.43
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council: £60.82
East Ayrshire Council: £100.09
East Renfrewshire Council: £100.05
East Riding of Yorkshire Council: £35
East Sussex County Council: £161.18
Fife Council: £63.92
Isle of Anglesey Council: £72.35
Leicester City Council: £163.69
Lincolnshire County Council: £55.28
London Borough of Bexley: £330
London Borough of Brent: £76.89
London Borough of Ealing: £106.12
London Borough of Haringey: £84.12
London Borough of Islington: £60
London Borough of Lambeth: £264.94
London Borough of Merton: £139.68
London Borough of Redbridge: £68.50
London Borough of Southwark: £34.75
London Borough of Wandsworth: £51.52
Newcastle upon Tyne City Council: £55.35
Newport Council: £193.88
Norfolk County Council: £298.53
North Lanarkshire Council: £479.78
North Lincolnshire Council: £52
Orkney Islands Council: £95
Oxfordshire County Council: £100
Perth & Kinross Council: £276
Reading Borough Council: £55
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council: £57.20
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council: £18.06
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead: £87.03
Scottish Borders Council: £43.52
Shetland Islands Council: £656
Shropshire Council: £654
Slough Borough Council: £72.42
Somerset County Council: £60
South Ayrshire Council: £166.16
Stoke-on-Trent City Council: £452.06
Thurrock Council: £126.59
Torbay Council: £82.82
Warrington Council: £41.91
Warwickshire County Council: £97.21
West Dunbartonshire: £345.05
Wigan Metropolitan Borough: £81.11
Wiltshire Council: £97
Wokingham Council: £112.52
Wolverhampton City Council: £100.82
Worcestershire County Council: £43.27
Some councils are clearly playing pothole bingo with public funds. And the rest of us are stuck dodging damage on our daily commutes.
This isn’t just a boring council admin issue – it affects your car, your wallet, and your safety. Standardising pothole repairs could be one of the easiest wins for the UK’s crumbling road network.
So next time you hit a pothole and feel your soul leave your body, just remember: someone, somewhere, paid £650 to not fix it properly.
