What A Lot Of Potholes

9.47.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 17th Apr 2009

Another Chelmsford pothole!

Essex County Council has spent millions of pounds on road maintenance, yet less than half of local residents are satisfied with the speed at which potholes are fixed.

A similar proportion of residents are dissatisfied with the quality of the repairs. These are the shocking findings of a review of the Council's highways maintenance performance.

The report also shows that many people are unhappy with the state of pavements. Last year, the Liberal Democrats proposed an extra £3 million for fixing roads and pavements but the ruling Conservatives opposed the proposal.

Even more controversially, the Conservatives are allowing potholes to get deeper before the Council repairs them. Under the new highways policy, if you get an injury by tripping on a footpath or road, you are less likely to be awarded compensation from the council.