Lancashire: Double the Funding, 268 Potholes Filled a Day
Lancashire County Council spent £68m of capital against a £32.5m DfT allocation in 2024/25 and earns a GREEN scorecard for spend. Yet the overall rating is AMBER — because RED-condition A and B/C roads hit five-year highs in 2025, over a quarter of unclassified roads have sat in RED for five straight years, and pothole repairs have nearly doubled to 97,757 in a single year.
What The Condition Data Shows
Six years of SCANNER survey data from Lancashire's own transparency report — and the last two years point firmly downhill
A roads (809.68km): RED nearly doubled since 2020
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2.1% | 20.47% | 77.43% |
| 2021 | 1.43% | 16.8% | 81.77% |
| 2022 | 2.2% | 19.9% | 77.90% |
| 2023 | 2.1% | 16.4% | 81.50% |
| 2024 | 3% | 22.5% | 74.50% |
| 2025 | 3.9% | 23.4% | 72.70% |
RED-condition A roads have nearly doubled since 2020 (2.1% → 3.9%) and good-condition A roads have slid from 81.77% at their 2021 peak to 72.70%. The county's most-inspected, most-trafficked roads are heading the wrong way.
B and C roads (468.53km): worst RED figure in six years of data
| Year | Red | Amber | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.36% | 26.38% | 69.23% |
| 2021 | 3.59% | 24.59% | 71.82% |
| 2022 | 3.65% | 24.3% | 72.04% |
| 2023 | 4.44% | 24.65% | 70.91% |
| 2024 | 4.59% | 25.73% | 69.68% |
| 2025 | 6.49% | 29.30% | 64.21% |
The single-year jump from 4.59% to 6.49% RED between 2024 and 2025 is the sharpest deterioration in the whole dataset — a rise of over 40% in twelve months. More than a third of the B/C network (35.79%) is now in RED or AMBER condition.
And This Is The Well-Funded Version
Lancashire spent more than double its DfT allocation in 2024/25 — and RED-condition roads still hit five-year highs in 2025. The problem isn't the chequebook. The network is deteriorating faster than even a GREEN-rated spend programme can repair it.
Note the reactive share: 39-45% of spend every year since 2020/21 has gone on reacting to defects rather than preventing them. The 2025/26 projection of £71.8m includes £15m of emergency top-up approved at full council plus £9.9m to complete prior-year schemes — catch-up money, by the council's own footnote.
One In Four Unclassified Roads: RED, Five Years Running
The residential and minor-road network has been rated as needing structural resurfacing at over 26% in every single year measured
| Year | U-roads in RED condition |
|---|---|
| 2020 | No data published (NA) |
| 2021 | 26.39% |
| 2022 | 27.65% |
| 2023 | 28.14% |
| 2024 | 27.67% |
| 2025 | 27.56% |
No National Standard — By The Council's Own Admission
Lancashire's report states plainly: "There has not been any nationally recognised standard for monitoring the condition of the unclassified network." Instead the council grades U-roads from its own detailed video surveys, on a one-to-five scale from "Free from Defects" to "Structurally Impaired".
RED is defined by the council as the area of damage in grades 4 and 5 — roads considered for full resurfacing. By that measure, more than one in four unclassified roads has needed structural work in every year measured, with no improvement between 2021 and 2025.
"Relatively Stable" — Stable At A Bad Level
The council's verdict on this data is that "the unclassified network condition has remained relatively stable over the last few years." That is true — and it is precisely the problem. Stability at 27-28% RED means the backlog of structurally impaired residential roads has not been cleared, despite the TAMP's Phase 2 (2020-2025) explicitly targeting the unclassified network.
Phase 2 has now ended. The council says Phase 3 priorities are still "being reviewed", with the interim 2025/26 focus shifted back to A, B and C roads — leaving U-roads waiting again.
Why This Matters For Section 58
To rely on the Section 58 defence, a council must show it had a reasonable system for knowing and acting on the condition of its roads. For Lancashire's network, ask:
- • If 27%+ of U-roads have needed structural resurfacing for five straight years, what was done about yours?
- • C roads are machine-surveyed "in one direction one year and the opposite direction the next" — was your lane surveyed the year you hit the pothole?
- • A five-year programme dedicated to unclassified roads ended in March 2025 with RED still above 27% — was the system actually working?
- • With no nationally recognised standard for U-road condition, how does the council prove its video-survey grading caught your defect's road?
A defect on a road the council's own data has flagged as structurally impaired — year after year — is very hard to dismiss as unforeseeable.
352,885 Potholes in Five Years — And Accelerating
The council's own estimates show repairs rising every single year — up almost 94% since 2020/21
| Year | Potholes filled (council estimate) | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 50,466 | — |
| 2021/22 | 58,125 | +15% |
| 2022/23 | 62,395 | +7% |
| 2023/24 | 84,142 | +35% |
| 2024/25 | 97,757 | +16% |
| Five-year total | 352,885 | +94% over the period |
~268 Potholes a Day in 2024/25
Averaged over five years, Lancashire fills around 193 potholes per day — rising to roughly 268 a day in 2024/25. A network producing potholes at that accelerating rate is, by definition, one where defects routinely form between inspections — exactly the scenario where prior reports and photographic evidence decide claims.
The Repeat-Visit Admission
The council's own words: it is "investing in larger scale patching to ensure that the areas where we have to visit repeatedly to fill potholes are in good order." That is an acknowledgement that parts of the network generate the same potholes again and again — if your defect was in one of those repeat-visit areas, the council knew the location was a problem.
The Six-Month Saturation Admission
The council's own explanation for the surge in pothole damage — in its own words
"Consequently, the highway network was consistently wet from the summer of 2024 through to the winter season. The network was considered saturated for more than 6 months."
— Lancashire County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report, June 2025
"This contributed to a significant increase in pothole damage and was further exacerbated by some periods of cold weather over winter."
— Lancashire County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report, June 2025
What This Admission Means
Lancashire formally acknowledges that rainfall running at around 125% of the long-term average — up to 135% in some areas — left the network saturated for over half a year, and that this caused "a significant increase in pothole damage". That is documented, county-wide knowledge of accelerated deterioration.
Knowledge of accelerated wear raises the standard for what a "reasonable" inspection and repair regime looks like during and after that period under Section 58.
Questions Worth Asking
- • Did the council increase inspection frequency during the saturation period it has documented?
- • If pothole damage was known to be surging, why wasn't your defect caught or made safe?
- • Was your area one of those experiencing rainfall at 135% of the long-term average?
Claiming Against a Big-Spending AMBER Council
Honest assessment: Lancashire invests heavily and innovates — here's how that changes your approach
What Works In The Council's Favour
- ✓ GREEN spend scorecard — spent more than double its DfT allocation in 2024/25
- ✓ Annual SCANNER surveys on the classified network, plus video surveys of U-roads
- ✓ Long-standing asset management plan (TAMP) with a preventative-first philosophy since 2014
- ✓ Genuine innovation — AI defect identification, recycled materials, first-time permanent fixes
Expect a documented Section 58 defence, especially on A roads. Generic claims will struggle.
What Works In Yours
- ✗ AMBER condition — RED A roads and B/C roads both at five-year highs in 2025
- ✗ AMBER best practice — unlike Buckinghamshire, the DfT did not rate Lancashire GREEN here
- ✗ 27%+ of U-roads in RED for five consecutive years, with no nationally recognised survey standard
- ✗ 97,757 potholes filled in one year — repairs rising every year since 2020/21
- ✗ Admitted six-month network saturation causing "a significant increase in pothole damage"
- ✗ C roads machine-surveyed in only one direction per year
The Winning Strategy Here Is Specificity
Against a council with a GREEN spend scorecard, your claim lives or dies on the specific defect:
- • Prior reports of the same pothole (FixMyStreet, council reports) — proof of actual notice
- • Photos showing the defect's size, depth and visible age (weathered edges, previous patching from repeat visits)
- • The road's class — on a U-road, five years of 27%+ RED is your strongest structural argument; on a C road, ask which direction was surveyed and when
- • The date — incidents during or after the documented 2024 saturation period sit squarely inside the council's own admission of surging damage
Mac builds exactly this case: he searches for prior reports, assesses your photo evidence, and cites Lancashire's own transparency data where it helps you.
Hit a Pothole in Lancashire?
A big-spending council demands a well-built claim. £35 for a professional claim pack.
DIY Claim
- • Submit photos and invoices
- • Use generic template letter
- • No U-road RED-backlog argument
- • No prior-report search
- • No saturation-period analysis
Professional Claim Pack
- ✅ Five-year RED-condition trends documented
- ✅ C-road one-direction survey gap argued
- ✅ 97,757 potholes in one year cited
- ✅ Prior reports searched and attached
- ✅ Section 58 rebuttal tailored to Lancashire
No percentage fees. You keep 100% of any compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lancashire spent more than double its DfT allocation in 2024/25 — can I still claim?
Yes. The DfT Spend scorecard is GREEN — Lancashire spent £68m of capital against a £32.5m allocation in 2024/25 — but the rating that matters for your claim is road condition, and Lancashire is AMBER overall. Section 58 turns on whether the specific defect that damaged your vehicle was reasonably inspected and repaired, not on how much the council spends in aggregate. A council that fills 97,757 potholes in a single year is running a network that produces defects faster than any budget can prevent.
What if my pothole was on a residential or unclassified road in Lancashire?
The unclassified network is Lancashire's weakest spot. The council's own report shows U-roads stuck above 26% RED in every year measured since 2021 — 27.56% in 2025 — meaning more than one in four residential and minor roads has been rated as needing structural resurfacing for five consecutive years. The council also concedes that "there has not been any nationally recognised standard for monitoring the condition of the unclassified network", relying instead on its own video surveys.
Pothole repairs nearly doubled in five years — doesn't that show the council is on top of it?
It shows the opposite. Repairs rose every single year, from 50,466 in 2020/21 to 97,757 in 2024/25 — roughly 268 potholes filled every day. A network producing defects at that accelerating rate is, by definition, one where new potholes routinely form between inspections — exactly the scenario where prior reports and photographic evidence decide claims. The council even admits there are "areas where we have to visit repeatedly to fill potholes".
Does Lancashire's admission that the network was saturated for six months help my claim?
Yes. The council's own transparency report states the network "was considered saturated for more than 6 months" and that this "contributed to a significant increase in pothole damage". That is documented knowledge of accelerated, county-wide deterioration. Under Section 58, knowledge of elevated risk raises the bar for what a reasonable inspection and repair regime looks like during and after that period.
Lancashire says its network has "remained relatively stable" — does that hurt my claim?
No — test the claim against the council's own tables. RED-condition A roads nearly doubled from 2.1% in 2020 to 3.9% in 2025, and RED B/C roads jumped from 4.59% to 6.49% in the final year alone — both five-year highs. Pothole repairs almost doubled over the same period. If a defendant council describes that trajectory as "relatively stable", its own published data is available to put the deterioration on the record.
My pothole was on a C road — how often was it actually surveyed?
Only partially each year. Lancashire's report states that SCANNER surveys cover A and B roads in both directions annually, but C roads "in one direction one year and the opposite direction the next". If your pothole was in the lane that was not machine-surveyed that year, the council's condition picture for that exact stretch could be up to two years old — a fair question to put to any Section 58 defence.
Data sources: Department for Transport — Local Road Maintenance Ratings 2025 to 2026 | Lancashire County Council Local Highways Maintenance Transparency Report (June 2025). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.