Derbyshire County Council’s claims that the number of potholes in its area has fallen to a “record low” have been called into question by the leader of the opposition.

The council recently released statistics, saying that in four months, the number of outstanding potholes has been cut from 12,000 in April to under 700, “the lowest figure recorded for more than 12 months”.

Howevers, says the BBC, the 12,000 figure includes both temporary and permanent repairs, and some failed repairs that required teams to return.

Conservative opposition leader Alex Dale said it was “concerning when some of these stats don’t even seem to add up”, though Reform deny any suggestion the figures are a misrepresentation.

The authority – which has repeatedly faced criticism of its road maintenance service in the past – said that changes to its methodology in fixing potholes and other recent improvements “have resulted in our rapid response teams being able to fix on average 2,000 potholes every week”.

Based on those projections, it could have fixed about 32,000 potholes. However, in the same press release – which was published on Thursday – the council said it had repaired 11,300 in four months from April to August.

The 12,000 figure is not unusually high for a winter backlog and is in keeping with previous winter trends.

However, the council was starting at a lower base than the previous April, when it was reported that the figure was higher at about 17,000 potholes. The figures for repairs would appear to be a significant reduction from repairs made in previous years.

In the space of a year between 2021-2022, the council said it had made close to 100,000 repairs.

Meanwhile, the council’s latest highways maintenance transparency report, external shows that in 2023, an estimated 80,254 potholes were filled, with 85,726 the year before.

Leaders at the authority have said that reporting methods have since changed, with duplicate reports of the same pothole, which previously inflated the figures, no longer included in the latest statistics.

(Picture: Kevin Borras/Highways News)