Conservative councils repaired five times more length of road last year than Labour authorities, The Telegraph can reveal.
The 50 Tory-controlled local authorities in England fixed 68 miles of roads, on average, according to analysis of Department for Transport (DfT) data.
Labour’s 78 councils, meanwhile, repaired just 14 miles worth of roads – putting them behind the 13 Lib Dem local authorities who managed to fix 27 miles on average.
The Telegraph has launched a nationwide campaign, Fix Our Potholes, to demand local authorities start fixing their roads and improve conditions for motorists, businesses and emergency services.
Readers are sharing pictures and stories of the worst potholes they have encountered so that the councils responsible can be encouraged to repair them.
This week The Telegraph uncovered that the amount of road repairs by local councils across the country has hit the lowest level on record, as well as highlighting Government plans to fine utility companies £10,000 a day for roadworks that overrun into weekends.
Similarly, we also revealed how thousands of councils are routinely denying compensation to drivers whose vehicles were damaged by hitting potholes on poorly-maintained roads.
Labour-controlled Plymouth council was highlighted earlier this week as the worst council for street repairs in the UK, fixing just 0.7 per cent of its roads – the equivalent of one mile – that should have been considered for maintenance over the past year.
The analysis comes after the head of a House of Commons committee described the state of the country’s highways as a “national embarrassment”.
Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who chairs the public accounts committee (PAC), warned that road users are being put at risk from “highways riddled with potholes”.
A critical report by the committee that was published on Friday found the DfT “has not taken responsibility” for its role in how roads have deteriorated.
David Giles, the chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, said: “The findings of the PAC inquiry into local roads in England highlight the critical challenges facing our local roads, many of which our annual local authority road maintenance (ALARM) survey has reported for many years.
“We were reassured to see that the PAC agrees that a step-change is needed. Its recommendations for longer-term and simplified funding streams so that local authorities can proactively repair and maintain local roads and deliver better value for taxpayers, is what we’ve been calling for.”
Last year the annual ALARM survey found that bringing all of the nation’s roads back up to good condition, as a one-off exercise, would cost more than £16 billion.
A Labour spokesman claimed The Telegraph’s analysis was “not reliable”, although his basis for saying so was not clear at the time of writing.
“The Tories left more potholes on our roads than there are craters on the moon, while pushing town halls to the brink,” said the spokesman.
“On their watch, car insurance claims related to pothole damage rocketed by 175 per cent – further hammering motorists.
“This Labour Government’s Plan for Change means we are backing drivers and fixing seven million more potholes over the next year.”
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “The Conservative government left the country with a £16 billion pothole repair backlog.
“Cutting budgets to the point that local authorities cannot afford basic road maintenance is nothing for the Conservatives to be proud of.”
The Conservatives were approached for comment.
