Kent’s crumbling roads saw a year-on-year increase in pothole reports as well as the highest number of insurance and drainage inquiries in years.

Figures comparing December 2023 and the same month in 2022 were revealed by Kent Council Council’s highways chief, Neil Baker.

Cllr Baker said the comparative periods give a better reflection of the council’s position as it is in “peak pothole season”.

Last December saw unsettled weather with yellow Met Office warnings for persistent rain and a risk of flooding but no storms occurred.

Pothole inquiries in December 2023 numbered 2,718 against 2,480 in 2022.

There were 339 insurance inquiries in December, double the previous year’s 170 and the highest recorded for five years.

Drainage inquiries stood at 947 enquiries compared to December 2022’s 706 - a four-year high.

Cllr Baker said: "While we regularly report performance data, it can be months out of date and give the impression we are out of touch with the reality of our roads.

“When we are in peak pothole season, formal figures show a relatively better position as they are for earlier, drier and warmer months.

"The comparison between December 2023 and December 2022 is a better reflection of reality. It has been a challenging winter so far but I'm certainly not blind to the state of our roads or the scale of the problem.

"Accurate, up-to-date data allows me to make the case for more investment, properly targeted and both proactive and reactive maintenance undertaken in a way that gives us the best chance of getting the job done first time so we can keep Kent moving.”

Margate councillor Barry Lewis said: “We should consider bringing the pothole repair service in-house because contractors often only have to do the marked potholes not the smaller ones that have been created nearby.

“It has been shown that patching doesn’t last and we have to invest in better technology to fix entire sections of roads, not just bits of them. Bringing it in-house could give us more flexibility. Over the past 14 years, the pothole problem, like the potholes, have just got deeper and deeper.”

KCC is ploughing £50m into tackling the issue including the trialling of a new semi-automatic piece of kit, called Pothole Pro, being trialled to improve efficiency.