A study has named Southampton as one of the “UK’s pothole capitals” with the number of reported potholes in the city on the rise.

The findings come after motoring experts Blackcircles submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to local authorities across the UK to reveal the areas with the most reported potholes over the past five years.

Southampton made it onto the top ten list – finishing seventh, behind Newcastle Upon Tyne in first place – with 4,524 potholes reported to Southampton City Council last year.

The figure was up by nearly 1,000 from the previous year, after 3,760 potholes were reported in the city in 2023.

More than 4,000 potholes were reported in Southampton in both 2022 and 2021, with 3,721 reports of road hollows reported in 2020.

Responding to the findings, Conservative councillor, Jeremy Moulton, said Southampton’s roads were “getting worse every year,” with the Labour council “wasting millions and needlessly shutting off roads.”

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He said: “In 2021/22 we spent double the amount a year than Labour on road resurfacing and triple the amount on potholes.

“When Labour got back into office they slashed roads investment, including many roads we had planned to resurface.

“As a result of their cuts roads are now getting worse every year. Instead, Labour is obsessed with wasting millions on needlessly shutting off roads and causing traffic congestion.”

Commenting on the data, Cllr Eamonn Keogh, cabinet member for environment and transport, said the council would work “tirelessly to make more improvements” to the city’s roads network.

In a statement, he said: “Our partners at Balfour Beatty Living Place record all pothole reports regardless of if they meet intervention levels or are duplicate reports of the same pothole.

“This helps the team keep a close eye on how best to use the available resources for planned maintenance via their roads programme and to highlight issues that are affecting highway users.

“We actively encourage the residents and visitors of Southampton to help us and our dedicated highway partnership to keep track of any defect in our urban road network.

“Potholes which meet the highest priority level are made safe within two hours, and all potholes that meet the intervention levels will be completed within the regulated timelines.

“We continue to work tirelessly to secure further funding from central government to make more improvements in our city, including our roads network.”