Are they driving you potty? The Sussex Express relaunches its Pothole Watch campaign

Statistics obtained by leasing company leasecar.uk showed 942 claims were made in the county after motorists fell victim to our damaged roads – and a total of £111,030.04 was paid out.

The figure is the 11th highest amount of compensation paid out by a county in the UK.

These latest figures show the residents of East Sussex agree and are not afraid to demand financial recompense for physical injuries or damage to their vehicles.

A county council spokesperson said: “Potholes usually occur when roads freeze and thaw repeatedly, causing the surface to break up. They appear more frequently in late winter and early spring.

“We inspect every road in East Sussex at least once a year but potholes can form quickly. When a pothole is reported to us we send one of our Highway Stewards to inspect the area as soon as possible and arrange repairs as necessary.

“East Sussex County Council was awarded £604,000 by the Department of Transport as part of its share of the Government’s Pothole Action Fund during 2018/19.”

The county council has spent its allocation on preventative surfacing and patching works to stop the formation of potholes across the county.

According to the council, its pothole prevention strategy is a three-pronged approach.

This includes resurfacing large or entire sections of roads where the surface is completely replaced; ‘micro-surfacing’ with a layer of asphalt emulsion blended with finely crushed stone to seal the surface and the use of a bitumen surface dressing into which stone chippings are rolled.

This week the Express is relaunching its Pothole Watch campaign to raise awareness of the issue which has left our roads covered in craters.

It follows a story in last week’s paper in which a reader only got a particularly large hole filled after speaking to somebody in Cornwall! Gwyn Carwardine was concerned about the surface around a road box in Mayfield which had deteriorated.

Where are the worst potholes in our patch?

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