How much Norfolk County Council spends on pothole repair

A recent investigation highlighted Norfolk as one of the councils to fork out the most for repair work out of all the counties in the UK, spending a total of £5.7 million in the last three years. 

A freedom of information (FOI) request found that the council spent £2,218,611 on pothole repair in 2021, followed by £1,424,918 in 2022 and £1,900,091 last year. 

Norfolk County Council forked out £1,900,091 for pothole repairs last year (Image: Newsquest)

But south of the border, Suffolk County Council's highways department spent £10.5 million on repairs in the 2022 and 2023 financial year.

The previous year, £9.3 million was spent.

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A council spokeswoman was keen to emphasise that this expenditure could not be used as a direct comparison because other authorities "record costs in different ways".  

Councillor Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for highways, said: "We have a responsibility for over 6,000 miles and with such an extensive network of rural roads, high usage and bad weather, it is an inevitability that they will occur."

Graham Plant said potholes were an inevitability (Image: Norfolk County Council)

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The FOI request - led by personal injury firm LegalExpert - also discovered that Norfolk Council has paid out a total of £57,351 in compensation relating to damage specifically caused by potholes since January 2022.

The automotive company RAC said it attended a seven-year-high of pothole-related breakdowns in 2023. 

This year alone has seen 83 potholes reported to the council.

Mr Plant added: "Where we receive claims for compensation as a result of incidents involving potholes we look at every claim on its merits and if we have met our responsibilities we will certainly defend a claim to protect the interests of Norfolk council taxpayers."