Hampshire County Council receives 46,712 pothole reports

This comes after figures revealed by Hampshire County Council stated, 2,781 compensation claims were made in Hampshire in 2024 and 2025 for pothole-related damage on roads, footpaths, and cycleways, with the council paying out £88,218.44 to claimants.

Hampshire County Council also received 46,712 reports of safety-related defects in the same period.

Councillor Nick Adams-King, leader of Hampshire County Council, said: "I see the same potholes residents see, and I share the same frustrations.

Cllr Nick Adams King (Image: Hampshire County Council)

"I’m sorry that’s happening.

"But it’s important the public also understands why this is happening, and what we are doing about it.

"Weeks of relentless rain, freeze–thaw cycles in January and the sheer volume of water on the network have caused road surfaces to fail at a rate we haven’t seen in some years.

"Some potholes appear overnight; others deteriorate within hours.

"This isn’t unique to Hampshire councils across the country are facing the same surge in defects.

"Our teams are working flat out.

"We’ve brought in extra Jet and Dragon Patchers, additional patching gangs, more drainage jetting machines and an extra white‑lining crew."

Mr Adams-King explained why some repairs are only temporary.

He said: "Temporary repairs are being used where necessary to keep roads safe, because a permanent repair takes seven times longer and simply isn’t viable in cold, saturated conditions.

"Permanent repairs will follow when the weather improves."

He also highlighted budget measures and plans for additional funding.

He said: "We are also reshaping future budgets to move every possible penny into road maintenance, and we are proposing a new lane‑rental disruption charge, already used elsewhere in the UK, which could raise up to £5 million a year to reinvest directly into highways."

Across 2024 and 2025, the council undertook 48,168 safety-related repair jobs, 25,865 in 2024 and 22,303 in 2025.

Pothole reported to Hampshire County Council (Image: FixMyStreet)

However, it says the actual number of individual potholes is unknown, as each report or repair could involve multiple defects.

Reviewing all reports to count individual potholes, the council said, would take more than 3,893 working hours, while checking all repairs would take more than 4,014 hours.

Mr Adams-King said: "Hampshire’s crews are doing everything they can, every day, to keep the network safe.

"We will continue to push for fairer funding from Government, continue to invest every pound we can find, and continue to be honest with residents about the scale of the challenge.

"And residents can help us too, report potholes when you see them using our online tools and app, if we don’t know about them we can’t fix them.

"And also take care when driving on roads prone to flooding and potholes."

Residents are still encouraged to report potholes using the council’s online system.