UK's worst potholes revealed - is your area on the list?
10 April 2025, 15:32
24% of A roads and motorways and 31% of B and C roads were categorised with 'Amber' surface conditions last year.
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Derbyshire tops the list as the area with the worst road conditions in England.
With 180 amber and red road surface condition ratings across the area, drivers in Derbyshire have the most potholes to avoid.
West Northamptonshire comes close behind with 168 amber and red ratings, while North Northamptonshire comes third with 166 amber and red ratings.
The city of Bristol makes top five, with 165 pothole covered roads.
The top 10 areas with the worst road conditions:
- Derbyshire
- West Northamptonshire
- North Northamptonshire
- Bristol, City of
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Bradford
- Southampton
- Cambridgeshire
- Bath and North East Somerset
Sunderland emerged Victorias with the best road conditions in England.
They boast 176 green road surface condition ratings.
The North East also makes the top rankings, with Middlesbrough and Gateshead taking second and third places respectively.
Sheffield stands out as the highest-ranked large city with 171 green ratings, showing that not all urban areas suffer from poor road maintenance.
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Top 10 areas with the best road conditions:
- Sunderland
- Middlesbrough
- Gateshead
- Sheffield
- Bexley
- Milton Keynes
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Halton
- Walsall
- Warrington
Third Gen Services and ONS analysed data from Gov.uk around road conditions, considering road ratings listed red, amber and green for local authorities in England in 2024.
This comes as The Prime Minister said councils need to "get on with the job" of fixing potholes as he announced an additional £4.8 billion of funding to carry out work on motorways and major A-roads.
Local authorities will start to get their share of £1.6 billion in highway maintenance funding confirmed last year, up £500 million from the previous year, in mid-April.
From March 24, they will be required to publish annual progress reports or face having funding withheld.
"The public deserves to know how their councils are improving their local roads, which is why they will have to show progress or risk losing 25% of their £500 million funding boost," Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
Councils will have to detail how much they spend and how many potholes they have filled in reports published on their websites by June 30.
