Award for 'pothole of the week' goes to road in Horsham

The dubious accolade is being bestowed on Robin Hood Lane by the makers of a nationwide free ‘pothole reporting app’ known as Stan.

The makers of the app – Horsham tech company Metricell – say: “Our mission is to create ‘Safer Travel Around Neighbourhoods’ and roads like these exemplify why our mission is vital.

"Robin Hood Lane not only serves as a residential street but also doubles as a beloved route for cyclists and dog walkers.”

The company has partnered with the RAC to encourage its members to sign up to Stan and report local road conditions wherever they are throughout the UK.

Drivers do not need to do anything while the app is in use. It works by the smartphone being secured in the car with the camera pointing through the windscreen. As the car goes along, Stan uses artificial intelligence to spot potholes and sends their locations to the local council.

Metricell sales director Mike Mockford said: “Stan allows users to quickly report potholes by taking a photo or filming a drive. Stan takes all this crowdsourced data and lobbies councils and road owners to fix the roads.”

He says that the app could lead to councils repairing potholes faster.

People can see the health of local roads by viewing ‘Stan the Map’ on the company’s website: https://www.stantheapp.com/

There Metricell states: “With Stan, every pothole you spot and report adds to a bigger voice. We're pooling all your reports to show road bosses just how much needs fixing. Together, we're a louder, stronger force for sorting out our roads.”

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Meanwhile, the Government has announced a programme of pothole repairs and road resurfacing projects for the south east is being made possible by the reallocation of HS2 funding.

The Government announced an £8.3 billion investment to tackle badly surfaced roads and pothole ridden streets across England, with the south east receiving £735 million over an 11 year period.

Councils in the south east have already been paid more than £23 million to deliver improvements, with another £23 million following in this financial year.