Potholes aren’t just an annoying part of driving in the UK—they can seriously damage your car and leave you with a hefty repair bill. With a massive £17 billion backlog in road maintenance, it's no surprise that people are losing patience with the state of the roads and the time it takes to get anything fixed.
So which parts of the UK are suffering the most from pothole problems, and which councils are at least trying to sort them out? New figures from tyre retailer Blackcircles reveal the areas with the worst pothole stats in 2024—and some of them might surprise you.
| Rank | Local Authority | Number of Potholes in 2020 | Number of Potholes in 2021 | Number of Potholes in 2022 | Number of Potholes in 2023 | Number of Potholes in 2024 | Road Length (Kilometers) 2024 | Potholes Per 100 Kilometres of Road 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 17,693 | 25,051 | 19,817 | 31,515 | 33,274 | 1016 | 3,275 |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 15,523 | 13,448 | 15,589 | 18,149 | 20,987 | 1072 | 1,958 |
| 3 | Cardiff | 16,632 | 15,729 | 17,831 | 22,669 | 17,536 | 1114 | 1,574 |
| 4 | Croydon | 10,289 | 7,531 | 9,338 | 12,426 | 11,074 | 775 | 1,429 |
| 5 | Waltham Forest | 2,275 | 2,729 | 2,538 | 5,416 | 4,884 | 421 | 1,160 |
| 6 | Hackney | 2,219 | 2,276 | 1,482 | 1,908 | 2,357 | 270 | 873 |
| 7 | Southampton | 3,721 | 4,676 | 4,002 | 3,760 | 4,524 | 594 | 762 |
| 8 | Blackpool | 2,336 | 3,872 | 1,803 | 2,599 | 3,245 | 448 | 724 |
| 9 | Sheffield | 7,069 | 8,275 | 8,726 | 12,569 | 14,240 | 1972 | 722 |
| 10 | Lewisham | 2,593 | 2,732 | 1,741 | 3,005 | 2,947 | 433 | 681 |
Topping the list is Newcastle, which now holds the title of the UK’s pothole capital. In 2024, the city recorded a massive 33,274 potholes across its 600 miles of roads. That’s an 88% increase since 2020. While that’s obviously not great news, Newcastle also led the way when it came to fixing the problem, repairing 3,001 potholes per 62 miles of road—the highest rate in the country.
Second place goes to Aberdeen, officially making it the worst-hit city in Scotland. The city saw 20,987 potholes reported last year, up 35% compared to 2020. Like Newcastle, Aberdeen is also making progress on repairs, coming in third for the number of potholes fixed, with 2,130 repairs per 62 miles of road.
In Wales, Cardiff claimed third place on the UK pothole leaderboard. The Welsh capital recorded 17,536 potholes in 2024, although the rise was less dramatic—just a 5% increase since 2020. Still, Cardiff is doing more than most when it comes to dealing with the issue, recording the second-highest repair rate, with 1,588 potholes fixed per 62 miles of road.
Other areas also struggling with potholes include Croydon, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Southampton, Blackpool, Sheffield, and Lewisham. While their numbers vary, all of them rank in the UK’s top 10 based on the number of potholes per 100 kilometres of road.
But potholes aren’t just a local government issue—they’re causing real problems for drivers. In Belfast, 57% of residents say their car has been damaged by potholes. In Liverpool and Sheffield, 17% of people claim it takes over six months to get a pothole fixed. A quarter of UK drivers say their car has been damaged by a pothole at least once, and 44% of 25 to 34-year-olds say it’s happened to them multiple times. Meanwhile, 28% of drivers believe potholes in their area are rarely or never fixed.
Some other stats from the report are just as worrying. Bexley saw the biggest pothole increase over the past five years, with numbers rising by 400%, from 442 to 2,184. Croydon spent the most on repairs in 2024, putting £517,746 into pothole fixes per 62 miles of road. Hertfordshire had the highest average payout for pothole-related damage claims at £367, while Ceredigion recorded the highest number of pothole-related collisions, with 8.2 accidents per 100,000 people.
If you feel like your daily drive has turned into an obstacle course, you’re definitely not alone. The state of the UK’s roads isn’t just frustrating—it’s expensive, dangerous, and, for now at least, getting worse before it gets better.
