Essex Councils spend more than half-a-million on pothole compensation

News / Sun 19th Apr 2026 at 09:18am

ESSEX County Council has spent more than half-a-million pounds settling claims for pothole damage on vehicles over the past five years reports the BBC.

Essex, which has nearly 5,000 miles (8,046km) of roads, had the highest number of claims (8,658) followed by Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Click below for the full report.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg73pxrxjk1o

3 Comments for Essex Councils spend more than half-a-million on pothole compensation:

David Forman

2026-04-19 10:00:53

Remember it is the Conservatives running the County Council. Handing out 25 year contracts to maintain roads, but with little in the way of oversight or penalties for poor performance as both Labour and Liberal councillors have routinely highlighted.

A Reform Member

2026-04-19 15:24:56

Reform UK has from its outset said it favours a "fix it once" approach focused on durable, long-term repairs over "quick fix" patching. When a pothole forms it needs the centimetres of asphalt removed to the core, core treatment applied then filled. Reform-led councils are using JCB Pothole Pro which cuts, cleans, and preps potholes. Edges need to be sealed to prevent water ingress. preventing the formation of new potholes. Our councils prefer to move away from cold-lay tarmac, instead using "hot box" teams for permanent, high-quality fixes.

Felmongers resident

2026-04-19 20:28:14

I wonder what excuse the Tories will put up, especially Councillor Garnett who stoically refused to do anything about Momples Road for years and has refused to do anything about the potentially dangerous Momples Road junction with First Avenue.