A RECORD number of potholes and road defects have been fixed across a 12-month period, according to the latest figures from Hampshire County Council.

From April 2023 to April 2024, 180,909 repairs were delivered, marking a 37 per cent increase.

Cllr Lulu Bowerman, the council’s cabinet member for Highways and Waste said: "We understand that potholes remain a significant concern for Hampshire’s residents, impacting daily journeys and overall satisfaction whether travelling to work, school, running a business or enjoying all our county has to offer.

READ MORE: Full list of Test Valley roads to be repaired this summer

"With unprecedented volumes of potholes being reported to us, Hampshire isn’t alone in facing the challenge of keeping local roads in a good condition. The impact of colder, wetter winters takes a heavy toll on the roads, and higher costs due to inflation means that every year we must make our budget stretch further – for example, it now costs the taxpayer around 44 per cent more to repair a pothole.

"Over the summer months, our highways teams will continue to make the most of the money we have available, and the generally drier, warmer days to support our priority focus on fixing large numbers of potholes, applying surface treatments to smooth our highways, and undertaking road maintenance on larger stretches of road across the county."

Road defects and potholes can be reported to the county council’s highways team at hants.gov.uk/transport/highways.