Potholes in Mid Sussex: call for council to repair damaged Haywards Heath road before problem gets worse

Tony Griffiths, 79, of Sergison Road, said parts of Paddockhall Road’s surface have broken away from a drain outside Mid Sussex Council’s offices, exposing the stones underneath.

He said another nearby pothole is almost 18cm (seven inches) deep with chunks of road surface ‘the size of your fist’ lying on the pavement.

Speaking on Friday, December 5, Tony said: “Some heavy lorry must have really struck it hard for that to happen. I thought it was a burst water main to start with because it’s full of water.”

Tony said the damaged drain had previously been fixed after it ‘collapsed’ two years ago. “I took that up with the council and shortly after they arrived and they put a new drain in,” he said. “It all looked splendid for a short period of time.”

The County Council said they are aware of the drain and pothole with repairs scheduled for ‘as soon as possible’. A WSCC spokesperson said: “We totally understand people’s frustration with potholes, which is why we have dedicated extra resources and continue to act proactively in tackling the issue.”

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Report potholes at www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-pothole-online.

Tony said he wants roads in Haywards Heath and the rest of England repaired more effectively. He said: “The main problem is a lack of maintenance and when they are maintained they are maintained to a very poor standard.”

Responding to this, a WSCC spokesperson said: “We repaired approximately 41,000 potholes in the last financial year: this year we forecast to repair about 49,000.”

They said their Highways teams have introduced ‘find and fix’ teams who repair potholes in urban areas ‘there and then’. The council said they focus on high quality, cut repairs where possible and have retained a Velocity road patcher until early January to repair carriageways in rural areas faster and more effectively.

They said: “We are using this innovative technology proactively to treat areas of road before the need for repair is highlighted in our routine inspections.”

The council said they are responsible for maintaining around 2,500 miles of road. A and B roads are usually inspected monthly, C-class and main distributor roads on a three or six-monthly basis, and declassified roads annually.