Soaring cost of fully fixing potholes on roads edges close to £17bn

The cost of fully fixing the pothole-plagued roads of England and Wales has reached a new high of almost £17bn, according to the latest industry report.

- Mimi Ibrahim Gwyn Topham

The record sum is required despite an increase in government funds to target road repairs and one pothole being filled every 18 seconds.

The report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which surveys local authorities annually to monitor the state of the network, found that almost one-sixth of local roads - the equivalent of almost 35,000 miles - would need re-laying within five years.

David Giles, the chair of the AIA, said 94% of local authority highway teams reported that, in their opinion, "there has been no improvement to their network over the last year".