大象传媒

A pothole reported to a council more than 10 years ago has still not been repaired, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed. According to new data, Hockley has five of the 10 oldest potholes reported to Essex County Council.

The oldest pothole is on The Spinneys and was reported in 2013. Pulpits Close and Folly Lane also have potholes that date back to 2015.

Geoff Grove has lived in the Essex town for more than 20 years, and is concerned about the situation.

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: 鈥淔igures from the Department for Transport show Essex had the highest traffic volume across all local authorities in the UK in 2022. This means that more vehicles use our roads than in any other county, putting our 5,100 miles of network, one the largest in the country, under constant pressure. This volume of traffic combined with the wettest winter on record has resulted in enormous deterioration to our road network across the whole of Essex. This has created an unprecedented number of potholes on our roads.

We have crews out every day across the network and they have been working enormously hard in all weathers to repair potholes in accordance with Essex Highways鈥� maintenance strategy. This includes prioritising the most severe potholes, making them safe within two hours of being reported. Essex Highways has now launched its resurfacing programme, which will improve and upgrade many roads across the county as part of the 拢39 million budget for carriageways in 2024/25.鈥�

Picture credit: Dan O'Brien/大象传媒.

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