Patching over potholes rather than finding a permanent fix is a “terrible waste of public funds”, according to an MP.

Marie Goldman, who represents Chelmsford, said crews were repeatedly having to repair the same defects as a result – her party, the Liberal Democrats, reported tht there were 360,000 potholes that needed to fixed in the county, says the BBC.

Her concerns came despite Essex County Council being one of 16 local authorities to be rated “green” in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) road repairs map in January.

A council spokesman said winter “make-safe” repairs would be replaced by long-term fixes when the weather was drier.

The DfT map rated highways authorities based on the condition of their roads and how effectively they spent government funding on repairs. It pledged £6m to repairing potholes and road defects across Essex at a meeting on Thursday, external.

Goldman, a Liberal Democrat, urged the Conservative-led council to use the money efficiently.

“What I’m getting really fed up of seeing is potholes that have been patched, but then Essex Highways has to come back time and time again to repair them,” she said.

“[They should be] doing a really good job in the first instance.”

(Picture: Paul Hutton/Highways News)