Pembrokeshire County Council has spent more than £880K on pothole repairs and has seen a staggering rise in the number of compensation claims lodged against it for damage caused by the craters in the last three years.

As Britain’s ‘pothole crisis’ hits record levels, an investigation by Accident Claims Advice has revealed claims against the Council for pothole damage have risen by 286 per cent since 2021/22.

In the last three years, the local authority says it has spent a total of £883,000 on pothole repairs as well as forking out a further £2.5K in compensation claims.

It comes as the number of roads being left unrepaired by UK councils has now hit record levels.

Up to 82 per cent of the miles of local roads flagged as in need of maintenance were ignored by councils last year - the highest proportion since records began in 2009, according to the latest Department for Transport (DfT) data.

Pembrokeshire Council confirmed it has 447 potholes in need of repair at the beginning of the year (January 2025).

New data obtained by Accident Claims Advice (ACA) via Freedom of Information requests has found that the Local Authority has had 107 legal claims lodged against it regarding potholes in the last three years with the figure increasing from 14 claims in 2022 to 54 in 2024.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s spending on pothole repairs has plummeted in recent years from £325K spent between 2021/22 to £286K in 2023/24.

Recently, the Welsh Government announced that local authorities will soon be able to access up to £120m to repair more local roads over the next two years.

The Welsh Government’s Final Budget 2025-26 set out the new plans for the borrowing initiative which will provide an extra £10m of revenue funding to local councils to enable them to unlock an additional £120m of capital funding to accelerate the process of fixing roads and pavements.

It follows the UK’s Treasury announcement in the Budget in October last year, which promised that total local road maintenance funding in 2025/26 would be nearly £1.6bn, representing a £500m uplift compared with the previous 12 months.

County Councillor for the Pembroke Monkton and St Mary South wards, Cllr Aaron Carey recently highlighted the ‘rapidly deteriorating’ condition of many roads across the county and throughout his ward, stating that he is getting almost daily complaints, with vehicles having to slalom their way around some of the worst hit areas with countless potholes.

Cllr Carey
County Councillor for the Pembroke Monkton and St Mary South wards, Cllr Aaron Carey recently highlighted the ‘rapidly deteriorating’ condition of many roads across the county and throughout his ward, stating that he is getting almost daily complaints, with vehicles having to slalom their way around some of the worst hit areas with countless potholes. (Google street view)

He’s now raised the matter with Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet member for residents’ services, to see as to what plans are in place to tackle this increasing problem.

“I fully understand that budgets are stretched, but we all pay into the system, and I do not think it is unreasonable for us all to be able to use roads which are fit for purpose,” remarked Cllr Carey.

“When driving around the area it is quite noticeable that the reactive system that is in place currently, is not working.”