Shropshire Council, which maintains more than 3,100 miles of roads in the county, says it is fullys aware of the unprecedented backlog of pothole repairs and has had extra highways teams out across the area in recent weeks.

More than 2,100 road defects were reported to the authority in January, almost triple the 799 logged by residents in December, says the BBC.

The number is also almost double the number reports in January 2025.

Drivers from all over the county have complained on social media of damaged or burst tyres due to the breakout of potholes.

“They are horrendous,” said mechanic Mike Millard, who runs a tyre-fitting firm in Bridgnorth, adding that he had not known the roads to be this bad in decades. “In Stottesdon, there were seven cars in a row that had all hit the same pothole.

“Some of them are half-a-foot deep and two or three feet wide. Normally I would fix about two or three cars a month because of pothole damage, but I’m doing that every day at the moment.”

As a driving instructor, Jordan Brown, from Shrewsbury, spends most days on the road.

He had two tyres changed in January because of slow punctures caused by potholes.

“Not only am I having to teach students how to drive, I’m also having to show them how to swerve around potholes,” he said.

“Some of the holes are big enough that students have to treat them like parked vehicles and either stop completely or slow down to give way to oncoming traffic.

“I don’t want potholes to knock their confidence if they damage the car. But equally, I don’t want my car off the road for a day or two because of damage to the wheel.”

Potholes typically form during winter when water seeps into tiny cracks in a road surface and soften the base underneath.

Due to January being one of the wettest starts to the year on record, along with a bout of heavy snowfall and below-freezing temperatures, conditions have been perfect for potholes to form.

“We recognise it’s a big problem,” said councillor David Vasmer, the person in charge of highways at Liberal Democrat-run Shropshire Council.

“We were getting on top of potholes last year and filled in more than 20,000 since we came to office in May, but January has been bad for weather and it’s set us back.

“We are making inroads into the backlog but this month and next month will be difficult.

“There is no quick fix but the quality of repairs are improving and we have more teams on the road sorting them out.”

The authority is encouraging residents to report potholes so problematic roads can be assessed and fixed.

(Picture: Paul Hutton/Highways News)_