'Gone to pot': Sussex World calls for urgent action amid pothole chaos in West Sussex with roads close to ‘breaking point’

Potholes have been a talking point for the whole of West Sussex, in recent years and the roads appear to be getting worse.

Many drivers have suffered damage to their cars and action needs to be taken. A new report from The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) said councils were expected to fix two million potholes in the current financial year – that is 43 per cent higher than the previous year and confirms repairs are at an eight-year high.

With our new campaign ‘Gone to Pot’, Sussex World is calling for immediate action from those responsible for our roads.

The AIA report read: “The continued decline in structural conditions is also reflected by the cost of tackling the backlog of carriageway repairs which has increased to a new record high of £16.3 billion.

“Unfortunately, highway teams have also been hit by the impact of rising costs due to inflation, which has meant that they have been able to do less – even though average carriageway maintenance budgets increased.

“As a result, local authorities, who have a statutory responsibility to keep local roads safe, just don’t have the funds to allow them to carry out the appropriate maintenance interventions, at the right time.

"In the meantime, the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, accelerating the rate at which the network is travelling towards breaking point.”

Responding to the new data, Richard Evans, head of technical services at webuyanycar, said: “With more and more defective roads across the UK, many drivers and cars are at risk of damage from potholes. Our research showed that over half of drivers (54 per cent) have had their car damaged as a result of potholes, with 40 per cent actively avoiding routes that they know are prone to them.

“If drivers think that their tyres have burst or their car has broken down, they should try to pull over somewhere safe to avoid obstructing other road users. Using hazard lights and if necessary a warning triangle will also help to ensure you are visible to other drivers.

“Breaking down can be a stressful and potentially dangerous experience, so it’s important to know the steps to take to keep you and your passengers safe. Our guide on what to do if a car breaks down, gives drivers the correct steps to take should this happen to them.”

West Sussex County Council provided a statement, in response to our campaign, on Wednesday morning (March 20).

A spokesperson said: “In the last few years, we have experienced more extreme weather events resulting in heat damaged roads, wide-scale flooding, wind damage and an increase in the number of potholes being reported.

"The council has approved an additional £4 million as part of its revenue budget in 2024/25 to support highway maintenance activities and repairs. This additional budget helps to mitigate the continued pressures on the reactive services and allows for proactive activities to reinforce the road network against the impacts of extreme weather.

“Recognising the importance of road condition to our residents, the council is also investing an additional £7 million of capital funding in the next financial year which will increase our carriageway resurfacing and treatments programme to over £20 million, enabling us to deliver one of our largest programmes of works to date.

"A further £10 million has also been committed for 2025/26 to continue the work needed to provide a resilient highways network for the county.

“We regularly inspect the county's roads to identify potholes and other problems. The frequency of the inspections depends on the type of road. We also encourage road users to report potholes to us online and when potholes are reported an inspector visits the site and decides on its repair depending on size, location and severity.”

With our campaign, we are calling for the highways authority to carry out works as soon as possible to ensure the safety of road users.

Mid Sussex Times reporter Lawrence Smith, 37, who lives in Storrington, said: "The Washington Road leading to and from Storrington is riddled with potholes at the moment. There are a few small ones that are easy to avoid but there are several massive ones as well. These large potholes are typically on bends of the road or while approaching corners, which makes them harder to avoid if cars are coming from the opposite direction. My guess is that the potholes formed from a combination of the harsh winter and HGVs that often use the road.

“There is a particularly nasty series of potholes on the A24 from Storrington to Horsham as well, close to the Ashington turnoff."

Meanwhile, a large pothole was spotted next to a draincover on the A24 northbound, near the Findon roundabout, earlier this month. Local photographer Eddie Mitchell described it as a ‘death trap’ and the 'worst one I've ever seen'.

He added: "This will wipe out any motorcyclist / cyclist and any car that hits it."

The county council did respond to Mr Mitchell, confirming that a contractor has been tasked with repairing the road ‘in accordance with our timescales’, adding: “If this is considered a safety issue, then this could be up to 28 days, depending on severity.”

However, the pothole has only been partially repaired, with at least one vehicle reportedly sustaining damage after hitting it.

A county council spokesperson said: “The pothole on the A24 was identified by our inspection team during the last monthly driven inspection of the A24.

"A job was raised to repair the area of the carriageway around the drain and this is due to be completed by March 29.”

Our campaign has seen reporters drive around their local area, looking for the worst potholes. And it hasn’t been a tricky task to find them:

– Pothole watch in Crawley: Resident describes state of roads as 'absolutely shocking' as pothole situation gets worse

– Pothole Watch Chichester: potholes remain a hazard for residents and drivers

– Pothole Watch: Is this the worst road in Horsham?

Why there are currently more potholes

A look at West Sussex County Council’s website leads you to the answer that the ‘extreme weather’ over the past year has led to a ‘rapid deterioration’ in the quality of road networks and a ‘higher-than-normal incidence of potholes’.

The council added: “Large weather fluctuations make road surfaces expand, contract and expand again, causing cracks and new potholes to form.

“When potholes are reported to the council an inspector visits the site and decides on its repair depending on size, location and severity. Repairs are only temporary when the weather is very wet or cold, or when it is an emergency out-of-hours repair.

"Response times for fixing potholes vary as shown below.

“We repair potholes greater than 100mm deep and 150mm wide on all roads within five working days.

“We repair potholes between 40mm and 100mm deep and 150mm wide on all roads within 28 days.

“We do not repair potholes less than 40mm deep on any road, but we will review them at our next inspection.

“We always try to make a permanent repair. Sometimes we need to make a temporary repair during wet weather to make the road safe. We monitor this type of repair closely and if they fail we will fix the pothole permanently.

“All safety defects are repaired through our core maintenance contract with Balfour Beatty Living Places.

“Last year the contractor fixed 96.7 per cent of potholes and safety defects on time. On average, the time to fix potholes during this timescale was 15.5 days.”

Sussex World and its weekly newspapers have never received as many complaints about the failure of national and local government to resolve the problem as we have this year. Just about everyone now knows of a motorist who has had their tyres and wheels wrecked – often multiple times.

We invite you to drive home the message to our county councils and politicians. Their public silence on this subject beggars belief. We urge you to send in photographs and video of potholes near you with your experiences of seeking redress. You can do so via our Your World portal.