AA reaction to National Audit Office report on potholes

Commenting on the National Audit Office's report on the condition and maintenance of local roads, Edmund King, AA president, said: “Todays NAO report is a damning indictment of the state of UK local roads and their upkeep. The condition of local roads has been declining yet the backlog is increasing and the budget has fallen. Prior to the election the poor state of the roads was cited by 96% of AA members as the number one transport issue.

“The new Government has an opportunity to implement longer term funding and stricter controls and guidance to bring about more innovation leading to permanent repairs rather than the current patchwork approach. We estimated the damage to vehicles caused by potholes to be almost half a billion pounds last year but the damage to those on two wheels can be serious injury or even death. ”