You thought the roads around you were bad, but they could be worse!

A study of official government inspections shows the areas of the country with the most roads needing attention.

With professional agencies stating the dire state of our tarmac, and our own personal experiences, the official data may seem tame in comparison.

Rough seas

The study by car check experts Motorscan analysed data from the Department for Transport. This   shows historical road condition statistics for every English local authority.

Looking at the average percentage of roads requiring maintenance between 2018 and 2023, Motorscan has deduced the areas on England most riven by potholes.

Statistically, the Southend-on-Sea area has the worst roads in England. This is because the area has an average percentage of B and C roads requiring maintenance of 24.6% between 2018 and 2023, the highest of any area in England. This, combined with 15.6% of A roads requiring maintenance in the same period, means that it comes in as the area with the worst roads in England.

Northern nightmares

The Derbyshire area comes in second place on the list. Between 2018 and 2023, 14.7% of A roads were judged to require maintenance on average.

In the same period, 21.2% of B and C were also found to need maintenance in the East Midlands local authority.

Coming in third place is Hackney, which also comes as the first London borough to feature on the list. Although the percentage of B and C roads requiring maintenance was significantly lower than other entries at just 9%.

For A roads, this sat at 16% on average between 2018 and 2023, giving it the third-place position.

Ramming it home

The local authority for the city of Derby comes in fourth place on the list.

In the area, 9.7% of A roads required maintenance between 2018 and 2023, with more issues for B and C roads, where 14% required maintenance on average.

Rounding out the top five is the second London borough to feature, with Newham.

Here, 12.3% of all A roads were judged to require maintenance between 2018 and 2023, followed by B and C roads, where 11.4% were also found to require maintenance.

The top ten England areas with the worst roads

Rank Local Authority Average percentage of A roads requiring maintenance 2018-2023 Average percentage of B and C roads requiring maintenance 2018-2023
1 Southend-on-Sea 15.6% 24.6%
2 Derbyshire 14.7% 21.2%
3 Hackney 16.0% 9.0%
4 Derby UA 9.7% 14.0%
5 Newham 12.3% 11.4%
6 Lambeth 14.0% 8.5%
7 Brent 11.8% 10.0%
8 Hammersmith and Fulham 5.5% 15.0%
9 Shropshire 6.5% 12.4%
10 Liverpool 7.7% 10.3%

 

“With these results featuring areas from many different parts of the country, it shows that road maintenance is an issue all over,” says Oliver Thompson, Head of Vehicle Intelligence at Motorscan.

“With so many London boroughs featuring in the list, it even highlights that the country’s capital even has big issues with its roads. While poor road maintenance can mean issues for your car, with risk of damage being done, it can also have a big effect on road safety as well.”