Cheshire East Council has refuted claims it has the most potholes waiting to be repaired than any other borough in England.
National newspapers carried reports this week that the authority had 17,197 potholes to repair, based on a study of reports on Fix My Street website.
But CEC highways bosses claim this is inaccurate, and revealed they will be launching their own new online tool for reporting road defects.
Cllr Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said: “Thankfully, Cheshire East does not have 17,197 potholes as incorrectly reported in a recent national newspaper.
“Instead, at the time of this article appearing, we had 550 defects. This is across a network of almost 1,680 miles (2,700kms).
“Last year, we fixed more than 35,000 potholes, and the 550 represent a normal number that we could expect to be assessing.
“There will of course always be enquiries in the system waiting to be processed but we believe the discrepancy is due to the way reports have been showing on Fix My Street.
“The council will soon be moving away from Fix My Street though and will be launching a new online tool.
“It will allow residents to easily report a wider variety of issues like potholes, fallen trees, abandoned vehicles and fly-tipping within their community.
“It will also more accurately record the number of potholes we have too!
“More details will be announced about this in the coming weeks.”
The authority has come under fire from many drivers over the past few months for the state of the roads, the surface dressing issues of the A500, and flooded rural roads where gullies and drains have not been cleared.
Cllr Goldsmith added: “We absolutely understand the frustration that potholes cause to our residents and we’re working effectively to tackle them and are currently putting together our investment programme for 2025/26.
“We’re not alone in facing this challenge, with councils across the country battling with this same issue.
“We are using our limited budgets in the best possible way and ensuring that investment made on repairing roads is done using the right treatment, at the right place, at the right time.”
looking at the supposed “repairs” to some (but not all) of the potholes on the Nantwich-Acton-Bluestones road, I think my 3 and 4 year old grandchildren could have done a better job. Filling already coming out, tarmac dipping and other areas left untouched. I just need to get a further 5 children to allow the usual 1 or 2 working and 5 watching and we will give it a go. Pathetic!
My wife drives a mobility scooter and doesn’t know which is worse the road or the pavements
Im assuming councilor Goldsmith lives on another planet as he clearly doesn’t live in Cheshire East. Incompetency a prerequisite for senior positions in this disgraceful Council
Some time ago, I hit a pothole so huge my wheel cracked, with instant deflation. I put the spare on and continued. When I returned around 10pm, there were multiple floodlit lorries repairing it.
My bill was around £700 but when I tried to complain, the council rejected my claim because they were “not aware the pothole was there”.
That was obviously a blatant lie, but what does Joe Public do? I doubt many would go to the trouble of a legal claim, so, like a good citizen, I coughed up.
Pothole fixers have been out this morning, around 6am, fixing something in the road on A51 by Green Lane, Wardle (unbelievable at that time, as that will cost heavily as regards overtime, no doubt). Cannot believe there are just 550 current defects (as those are the ones which have been reported). All along the A51 there are numerous pot holes and you have to swerve around them, so I believe the people living with pot holes know the true amount of defects.
Just drive around Crewe, there are potholes on almost every road. Drive into any other East Cheshire town and it’s the same, the roads are an absolutely disgrace. I have to pay mega tax on my car because it was over some value brand new nonsense. These roads I’m paying more tax for are smashing my new car to bits. My previous car ended up with cracked alloys because of East Cheshire roads. This has been going on for years now. The money is clearly not being used on the roads
What a load of nonsense this councilor is spouting. He’s clearly incompetent if he believes only 550 pot holes exist in cheshire east. Amazingly they repaired 35,000 last year. This joke of a council clearly have no respect for the electorate at all if they think we will believe his statement.
Plus whoever has been filling pot holes recently has been doing it with their eyes shut…the work is really poor.
Stop faffing about and wasting our money and get the roads properly resurfaced. Or better still resign and let’s get councillors in who actually care.
The road on the way from radway green to crewe is full of potholes some very big ones. On the corners by slurter hill and the junction with Weston road is in need of repair there has been a water leak on hill just after crewe green just past the houses for the last year and alsager town center by Asda is in need of repair work. There are more then the 500 odd thay say were reported just on the alsager crewe road and roads going to crewe up to the roundabout. The reson thay have so few is thay come out see how deep the hole is if it’s not a certain depth thay won’t fix it you see the white paint around the hole then the paint gets worn away and that hole go’s un fixed thay never empty the drains which courses flooding of the roads you never see a road sweeper do you basic management and Maintenance. Are missing 20 years 15 years ago you always saw road sweepers and drain cleaners Maintaining basic road Maintenance stops the holes or not as many forming patching the road up does nothing when thay don’t do it right thay come in a van thow down the tar stamp on it and drive of no cleaning the hole or making sure its sealed then when it rains or is cold or even a truck go’s over it it comes right back out and then it’s left un repaired for months and months it’s a waste of time and money do the job right in the frist place then it whould sort out a lot of the pot holes and save on cost too!!!!.
Along with the 9 towns and hundreds of villages that are all based within potholes his estimate of 550 probably isn’t far off.
I can’t wait until the reconnect them with roads.
I see, get rid of fix my street tool and then the figures will be lost! Reinvent your own tool so you can then manipulate the figures, genius.
Our total incompetent council should go to North Wales and see how they not only look after their roads but actually repair them properly.
Councillor Goldsmith do the right thing and resign.
I counted over 100 potholes and patches of rough or damaged road surface between Peter de Stapleigh Way, Nantwich and Longhill Lane, Hankelow!
Just Driven through Acton, the road has just been closed for repairs, the few which have been done by the church and school look absolutely shocking, the repairs are little better than the potholes, about as smooth as the surface of the moon,if this is the standard of repairs the council is accepting it is no better than a third world country
There’s more than 550 potholes on the B5077. Absolutely riddled with pot holes, very dangerous as other cars dodging pot holes on wrong side of the road. Shame on you Cheshire East.
550? What planet is this man living on?
Middlewich Road alone must have several hundred, never mind the ENTIRETY of Cheshire East. Who is is trying to convince with such a barefaced lie?
Cheshire’s roads are in a shocking state, and when a pothole is actually repaired it reappears a few months later because they are not properly filled/sealed.
We need a complete road resurfacing program!
To be wholly fair, Councillor Goldsmith is obviously excluding all the holes that have been sprayed with white paint numerous times, but never fixed, the ones measured with The Cheshire East”especially erroneous” tape measure, and the holes that are clustered around a hole that has actually been repaired !
Goldsmith is clearly in blatant disregard of the “hole” matter, but if he eventually gets that big fat pension ,at tax payers expense, I wonder If he’ll be ‘holed up ‘ somewhere? or maybe he’ll still be performing’ hold ups’ !!
I’ve heard of hiding your head in the sand but Foucillor Goldsmith you seem to be hiding your head in a pothole.
Complete nonsense from a very incompetent council, I have started noticed that where there has been numerous potholes, they have made the road worst through there incompetent repairs over time, you end up with a section of road that is terrible, councillor goldsmith, you need to get in your car and go for a big drive around, come over to nantwich and see for yourself
Cllr Goldsmith should be embarrassed putting out such nonsense. Irrespective of the real number, the fact is that the roads are in a poor state of repair and are a danger to all road users. He should stop trying to use smoke and mirrors and just be honest. And does he really believe that a new reporting tool is the answer? Finally, he should reflect and sense check the information being provided for him before signing off on such a statement.
Kindly share the evidence, freedom of information, share details of precisely where the potholes are by area, street, and when they will be repaired, only then will you have some credibility
Prove it CE, explain where how funds have been spent, published a detailed list of all potholes reported and date when they will be repaired, you must have this otherwise how can you say what you say
More lies from our incompetent council,this is how much respect they have for the electorate that they think that this number is believable.
Has Councillor Goldsmith lost the plot completely…. to say CEC only has 550 current defects is an absolute bare faced lie.
I could count more than 550 defects in 10 minutes on Cheshire East roads.
CEC and their utter incompetence are not fit for purpose.
Mr Goldsmith should resign from his over paid position due to the current appalling state of CEC roads.
Shame on you CEC.