Two prominent highways campaigners have perhaps encapsulated the British public’s increasing anger about the pothole ‘crisis’ by warning that the state of the roads has reached “crisis point.”

According to The Argus, Worthing’s Pothole Patrol, led by veteran campaigners Martin McCabe and Bob Smytherman, have written to Councillor Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways and transport at West Sussex County Council, calling for urgent, long-term repairs on a number of key roads and known hotspots across the town.

The letter highlights concerns from residents about dangerous road surfaces and criticizes “short-term patchwork” repairs.

Mr McCabe, a former councillor, said: “Residents are fed up with dodgy repairs and roads that simply aren’t safe.

“This is no longer about individual potholes – it’s about a network in decline. We need a proper plan to fix Worthing’s roads for good.”

The group welcomed recent repairs in Bruce Avenue and Tarring Road, however pointed to a “systemic failure” in road maintenance and said isolated repairs were not enough to tackle the issue.

The intervention comes amid the council announcing earlier this month that it would set aside more than £60 million for highways improvements in 2026 and 2027. The group added that residents will expect to see meaningful, lasting improvements as a result of the announcement.

The campaigning duo recently marked the ‘eighth birthday’ of a pothole in Pevensey Garden, which has since been resurfaced.

They added that they would continue reporting potholes through official channels but the scale of the issue required urgent leadership and a comprehensive response from the council.

(Picture: Paul Hutton/Highways News)