Plague of potholes around Horsham drives residents to distraction

Drivers say they are having to dodge hundreds of holes strewn across roads throughout the district. And, they complain, that ‘temporary fixes’ are causing more problems than they’re worth.

Many have taken to social media to vent their frustration and anger at the situation. They describe many patched-up holes as a ‘waste of time and money’ as the holes often reappear within days.

One person said: “They don’t last five minutes.” And another: “Pitch and patch is not effective.” Another complained: “The potholes everywhere are the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Many have pinpointed pothole hot-spots with Church Road, Roffey, high on the list and others highlighted in Blackbridge Lane, St Leonards Road, New Street, North Parade, Springfield Road, Albion Way, Bishopric – and more.

Surrounding villages are also blighted, particularly Pulborough, Warnham and Southwater.

West Sussex County Council, which is responsible for maintaining around 2,500 miles of the county’s roads, urges people to use an online e-form to report problem potholes by logging on to www.westsussex.gov.uk and selecting ‘roads and travel’ and ‘report a pothole online’.

The site features a map depicting where reports of potholes have been made.

A council spokesperson said: “We regularly inspect the county's roads to identify potholes and other problems on the highway. The frequency of inspections depends on the type of road.

"Busier routes, such as ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads, are inspected monthly, whereas quieter routes would be inspected less often.”

The council says it repairs potholes greater than 100mm deep and 150mm wide on all roads within five working days and repairs holes between 40mm and 100mm deep and 150mm wide on all roads within 28 days.

“We do not repair potholes less than 40mm deep on any road, but we will review them at our next inspection,” said the spokesperson. “We always try to make a permanent repair.

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“Sometimes we need to make a temporary repair during wet weather to make the road safe. We monitor this type of repair closely and if they fail we will fix the pothole permanently.”

From April 2022 to the end of December 2022, says the council, around 25,500 potholes were filled by its highways teams and contractors.