East Sussex residents express anger at 'dangerous' potholes not being fixed

Unfixed potholes had been reported in areas such as Nevill Crescent, the bottom of Middle Way and up past Chailey School, which locals have described as ‘terrible’ and ‘dangerous’.

Residents in Lewes have taken to social media to express their anger at the number of unfixed potholes throughout the town.

Unfixed potholes had been reported in areas such as Nevill Crescent, the bottom of Middle Way and up past Chailey School, which locals have described as ‘terrible’ and ‘dangerous’.

One person wrote: "There all over the place, they don’t care about ones on the main road. Let alone country and back roads. People want to start putting in bills to the council when car damaged.”

Another said: “Don’t get me started. The Lewes to Chailey Road, up past Chailey School, is simply terrible. Loads of nasty holes and disintegrating edges - really dangerous, not to mention the enormous pothole in the into Lewes carriage way just after the Cooksbridge level crossing.”

Residents have expressed their anger at the East Sussex County Council (ESCC), who are responsible for the state of the roads in the town, claiming they should a lack of care to the issue.

One wrote: “You can report them but they don't take any notice.”

Another joked: "I phoned them up and reported the roads without potholes as it was a much shorter list.”

Last week, new research from the Liberal Democrats showed that ESCC had more than 13,000 potholes reported in the financial year of the 2021/22, one of the highest amounts of any local authority in the country.

The ESCC is responsible for the maintenance of more than 2,000 miles of roads and 1,542 miles of pavements and cycleways across the county.

The council told SussexWorld it prioritises repairs based on a number of factors including the depth, size and location, claiming that all Highway Authorities operate in this way.

The potholes in Middle Row and Nevill Crescent that meet their published intervention levels are due to be repaired this week, the council said.

An ESCC spokesperson said: “All potholes that meet the council’s repair criteria are repaired within two hours, five days or 28 days depending on the size of pothole, location and type of road and this information is published on our website. Smaller potholes and other defects that don’t meet our intervention criteria are added to our wider patching programme, and are therefore not dealt with in the same timeframe but continue to be monitored.”

“We would encourage the public to report potholes directly to us to allow us to act as quickly as possible. Reports can be made via our website www.eastsussexhighways.com/report-a-problem/roads.”