Council to help people 'correctly identify' potholes

Sheffield City Council aims to educate motorists on how to "correctly identify" a pothole as part of a new roads campaign.

An authority report said there was some "confusion around what qualifies as a pothole", with the drive aiming to clearly define them and focus on "clarity, consistency and managing expectations" with repairs.

It comes after months of complaints from motorists about the number of potholes in the city, with 3,000 needing repairs in June.

"Potholes are also one of the most common issues raised by Sheffield residents and are often viewed as a visible measure of council performance," the report added.

Amey has a £2.2bn contract to look after Sheffield's roads, with the firm previously stating its average response time to "temporarily repair an urgent pothole" in 2026 was under 24 hours.

Amey splits pothole repairs into urgent category one and non-urgent category two.

There were 148 urgent potholes temporarily repaired and awaiting permanent repair as of 16 June, with 3,075 non-urgent potholes requiring attention.

The report said officers want to "increase public understanding of reporting criteria so residents can correctly identify what qualifies as a pothole".

The council said hazardous potholes are deeper than 40mm, with category two ones requiring attention but not an immediate hazard.

• Potholes: What are they and why are they dangerous?

A key objective of the campaign will also be to explain the fixing process to avoid "frustration and unrealistic expectations".

The council is looking at creating "explainer" videos, potentially working with children from local schools who would "use simple language and explain the pothole repair process through children's voices".

The RAC said local authorities take very different approaches to deciding whether or not potholes get fixed.

"For a long time we've advised the public to report each and every pothole they come across, but unfortunately our analysis shows this doesn't guarantee it will get fixed," said spokesperson Rod Dennis.

"Some councils state a pothole needs to be sufficiently deep or wide to be considered for repair.

"This can be enormously frustrating for anyone who comes across one, reports it but then witnesses it get even bigger and more dangerous as it didn't quite reach a threshold for repair."

The AA tracks the number of pothole-related incidents attended by its patrols, with 618,244 nationally last year.

Edmund King, AA president, said: "The priority must be to move away from the cycle of temporary patching and towards permanent, long-lasting repairs.

"Introducing a five-year warranty on every non-emergency pothole repair would help drive that change, ensuring those carrying out the work are accountable for repairs that fail prematurely."

The council said Sheffield experienced a "significant spike" in potholes in January and February, exacerbated by winter weather, persistent rainfall and saturated road conditions.

Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said there were so many potholes "roads look like slaloms from the Winter Olympics".

Because services are delivered through the Streets Ahead PFI contract with Amey, Sheffield City Council does not receive government pothole funding like some other authorities.

Speaking in June, Mark Rusling, chair of the council's environmental services and regulation policy committee said: "There is a Department for Transport dashboard that gives councils a traffic light colour for the state of their roads.

"Sheffield is currently amber and I'm very clear I want us to be green by Christmas."

Councillors on the environment committee are set to discuss the report on Friday.

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