Coventry City Council has dramatically reduced its pothole backlog from 7,167 defects to just 588, although officials admit repair times are still falling short of key targets.
The number of outstanding potholes has fallen from March 2025 to September 2026, allowing the council’s highways teams to focus more attention on preventative road maintenance ahead of the winter months.
Mark O’Connell, the Council’s strategic lead for highway operations, described the reduction as “a massive decrease”, highlighting the progress made by the council’s repair teams. The authority repaired 6,010 potholes during the 2025/26 financial year and has completed a further 2,853 repairs so far this year. The average cost of repairing a pothole is £67.57.
Peter Ullah, highways operations manager, told councillors that average repair times had improved significantly, falling from 27 days to 12 days after the number of repair teams was increased from six to 10.
However, the council is still missing its target of repairing severe potholes within five days.
“We are definitely moving in the right direction because of the additional teams we have,” Mr Ullah assured councillors.
The council faced particularly challenging conditions during January and February, when harsh winter weather led to approximately 2,000 pothole reports, more than the total received throughout the previous year.
Despite the pressures, Coventry is among just 16 councils to have been awarded green status by the Department for Transport for road maintenance. While councillors praised the work carried out by highways teams, concerns remain about the council’s future funding position.
Coventry is set to lose £1.5 million annually between 2027 and 2032, raising questions about how road maintenance will be funded in the years ahead.
Cabinet Member Councillor Patricia Hetherton praised the efforts of council staff but warned of further challenges, including potential weather impacts associated with El Niño.
The funding reduction could force the council to move away from proactive road maintenance and towards a more reactive approach focused on patching potholes as they emerge.
Although the sharp reduction in the backlog represents substantial progress, councillors face the challenge of maintaining that momentum while meeting repair targets and managing increasingly constrained budgets.
(Picture: Magnific)
